SQL Server 2017 Developer???s Guide

Using indexed views

You can optimize queries that aggregate data and perform multiple joins by permanently storing the aggregated and joined data. For example, you could create a new table with joined and aggregated data and then maintain that table during your ETL process.

However, creating additional tables for joined and aggregated data is not best practice because using these tables means you have to change queries used in your reports. Fortunately, there is another option for storing joined and aggregated tables. You can create a view with a query that joins and aggregates data. Then you can create a clustered index on the view to get an indexed view. With indexing, you are materializing a view; you are storing, physically, the data ...