Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition

Multiuser FAQ

Some of the common questions asked by DBAs about multiuser issues are as follows:

Q1:	Does the lock manager inspect the number of records in a table when deciding the type of lock to implement?
A1:	No, the lock manager utilizes information such as the number of records accessed or modified by the query, the density of the rows per page, and the number of users concurrently accessing the table. Additionally, the lock manager looks to see whether the table has a primary key. When processing an UPDATE or DELETE statement, the lock manager must utilize a table lock instead of a row- or page-level lock if the table does not contain a primary key.
Q2:	When should the default transaction isolation not be used?
A2:	The default transaction ...