Creating an Index on large table

[bigdavelamb]

Hi

I have a very large SQL Server 2000 database (around 8gb). And within that I have a table where most of this data is stored. I have one table with around 7 million rows. The primary key is stored across four varchar fields. The table has 57 fields. The table is used very heavily for all sorts of transactions (update/delete/inserts), it is really used as flatfile database for a legacy application.

I am trying to tune the database as it's really slow, and I assume the best method would be to create indexes on this table? Could anyone recommend what sort of index is best used on this table as I know nothing about indexes, and whether there be anything else I can do to try and speed things up (apart from binning the database and starting again with a new application!)

Thanks alot.

Dave

 

[Qik3Coder]

faq183-398



If [blue]you have problems[/blue], I want [green]source code[/green] AND [green]error messages[/green], none of this [red]"there was an error crap"[/red]

 

[bigdavelamb]

Thank you.

 

[gmmastros]

Flat file databases are awful for performance (and usually size, too).

I encourage you to normalize this table (if you can). in addition, I encourage you to do a little research on partitioning (horizontal and vertical).

-George

"The great things about standards is that there are so many to choose from." - Fortune Cookie Wisdom