SQLServerCentral.com Community Update for July 18, 2025

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When INCLUDE Columns Quietly Inflate Your Transaction Logs

Chandan Shukla from SQLServerCentral

In this article, I wanted to test a common assumption we DBAs make – that adding INCLUDE columns to indexes is harmless. I created a FULL recovery test database with a realistic wide Orders table containing extra large VARCHAR columns to simulate an ERP workload. I ran updates and measured transaction log backup sizes before and after adding INCLUDE columns to a nonclustered index. The results shocked me. The update without INCLUDE columns generated a 10 MB log backup, while the same update with INCLUDE columns produced over 170 MB – a 17x increase in log volume. I explain why this happens: INCLUDE columns are physically stored in index leaf rows, so updates affecting them write bigger log records. I also clarify that updating key columns generates even more log than INCLUDE updates because it involves row movement (delete + insert), but INCLUDE updates still cost more log than if those columns weren’t indexed at all. The takeaway is clear – INCLUDE columns are powerful, but they silently increase transaction log generation, impacting backup sizes, replication lag, and DR readiness. Always measure their real cost before deploying to production.

Automating SQL Server Access Review

Deepam Ghosh from SQLServerCentral

Learn how you can automate checks and reports to l...

Pro SQL Server 2022 Wait Statistics: A Practical Guide to Analyzing Performance in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database

Site Owners from SQLServerCentral

Use this practical guide to analyze and troubleshoot SQL Server performance using wait statistics. You'll learn to identify precisely why your queries are running slowly. And you'll know how to measure the amount of time consumed by each bottleneck so you can focus attention on making the largest improvements first. This edition is updated to cover analysis of wait statistics current with SQL Server 2022. Whether you are new to wait statistics, or already familiar with them, this book provides a deeper understanding on how wait statistics are generated and what they mean for your SQL Server instance’s performance.

Yesterday's Question of the Day (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor)

The Updated Columns List

I have this table in SQL Server 2022:

CREATE TABLE CustomerLarge (CustomerID INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1) CONSTRAINT CustomerLargePK PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED , CustomerName VARCHAR(20) , CustomerContactFirstName VARCHAR(40) , CustomerContactLastName VARCHAR(40) , Address VARCHAR(20) , Address2 VARCHAR(20) , City VARCHAR(20) , CountryCode CHAR(3) , Postal VARCHAR(20) ) GO

If I check the columns_updated() function return in a trigger, what is the data returned?

Answer: A two byte varbinary value

Explanation: A varbinary value is returned from columns_updated(). The size is based on the number of columns. One byte for each 8 columns. Ref: COLUMNS_UPDATED() - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/functions/columns-updated-transact-sql?view=sql-server-ver16

Discuss this question and answer on the forums

Database Pros Who Need Your Help

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

SQL Server 2019 - Development

do i lose "what this object depends on" etc when moving sprocs to etl server - Hi i was surprised to see the approach my coworkers used to sunset talend , a combo etl and job scheduling tool. They were in a hurry. Basically, the talend transforms /jobs they needed to do something with ran a proc on the "ERP Servers" and loaded the extracted data into various databases on our […]

Editorials

People Make Odd Choices - Comments posted to this topic are about the item People Make Odd Choices

Navigating Multi Platform Realities in My Database Life - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Navigating Multi Platform Realities in My Database Life

Formatting Dates and Times: The SQL Dialect Divide - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Formatting Dates and Times: The SQL Dialect Divide

Article Discussions by Author

How a Legacy Logic Choked SQL Server in a 30-Year-Old Factory - Comments posted to this topic are about the item How a Legacy Logic Choked SQL Server in a 30-Year-Old Factory, which is is not currently available on the site.

SQL Server Columnstore Index Fragmentation - Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server Columnstore Index Fragmentation

SQL Server 2022 Clusterless Distributed Availability Group - Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server 2022 Clusterless Distributed Availability Group

Query Plan Regressions -- - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Query Plan Regressions --

Revolutionizing Efficiency: The Power of Custom Automation Software Development - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Revolutionizing Efficiency: The Power of Custom Automation Software Development

SQL Server and AI: Integrating Machine Learning Services - Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Server and AI: Integrating Machine Learning Services

Has the PK been used -- - Comments posted to this topic are about the item Has the PK been used --, which is is not currently available on the site.

SQL Server 2022 - Administration

Import/Export SSMS Settings issue - I have tried a number of times to export and then import my SSMS settings as I migrate local computers or sign into new servers. But for some reason, my toolbar customization and my keyboard settings (or other Tools -> Options) settings never pass through. I always seem to get errors like this: Your […]

FQDN - SQL cannot connect when the server name has backslash - Hi I need to connect to a SQL server via FQDN - that is named 'ABC\ABC' If I try to connect to [ABC\ABC].mydomainfullyqualified.com it does not work. Tried many other combinations also. ABC.mydomainfullyqualified.com, all sorts of combinations. Nothing works.. If I change to a different server that does not have the back slash in the […]

Upgrading from 2012 to 2022 - Hi, Would it be possible to upgrade from sql server 2012 sp4 to sql server 2022 in one upgrade step, or would it require intermediate upgrades? Thanks for any recommendations.

SQL Server 2022 - Development

Please help to optimize the query - Hi Experts, Thanks in advance. I am new to SQL. Can you please help me in optimizing the query? CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[UDF_GET_REVIEWERS_INFO_FOR_COI](@awardId NUMERIC, @nomineeIds varchar(max),@phaseSettingId NUMERIC_ID) RETURNS TABLE AS RETURN SELECT ReviewerMasterCustomerId=Reviewer.MASTER_CUSTOMER_ID, ReviewerName=Reviewer.First_Name+' '+Reviewer.Last_Name, --START Nominator Centric COICount= CASE WHEN Prog.IS_NOMINATOR_CENTRIC =1 THEN (SELECT [dbo].UDF_GET_NOMINATOR_CENTRIC_COI_COUNT(@phaseSettingId,NomineeReviewer.REVIEWER_MAST_CUST_ID,1)) ELSE sum(CASE WHEN NomineeReviewer.COI_STATUS=1 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) […]

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