Structure of SQL Server Indexes
SQL Server maintains indexes with a B-Tree structure (see Figure 18.5). B-Trees are multilevel, self-maintaining structures.
Figure 18.5. The B-Tree structure.
A B-Tree structure consists of a top level, called the root; a bottom level, called the leaf (always level 0); and zero to many intermediate levels (the B-Tree in Figure 18.5 has one intermediate level). In SQL Server terms, each square shown in Figure 18.5 represents an index page (or data page). The greater the number of levels in your index, the more index pages you must read to retrieve the records you are searching for. (That is, performance degrades ...
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