Enhancing Database Efficiency with Compression

Using Compression to Reduce Storage and Improve I/O

Write a SQL query to enable data compression for a table.

Solution:

-- Enable row compression for the Employees table.
ALTER TABLE Employees REBUILD WITH (DATA_COMPRESSION = ROW);

Explanation:

• Purpose of the Query :
• The goal is to demonstrate how data compression reduces storage and improves I/O performance.
• Key Components :
• DATA_COMPRESSION = ROW: Compresses rows to save space.
• Reduces the size of data pages, improving read/write efficiency.
• Why Use Compression? :
• Compression reduces storage costs and improves query performance by minimizing I/O.
• It is particularly beneficial for large tables.
• Real-World Application :
• In data warehouses, compression optimizes storage for historical data.

Notes:

• Compression increases CPU usage during read/write operations.
• Test the impact of compression on performance before enabling it.
• Important Considerations:
• Balance the trade-off between storage savings and CPU overhead.

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a SQL query to enable page compression for a large fact table in a data warehouse to reduce storage costs.
• Write a SQL query to rebuild an index with row compression to improve query performance on a frequently accessed table.
• Write a SQL query to analyze the storage savings achieved by enabling compression on a historical data table.
• Write a SQL query to test the impact of compression on query performance for a table with high read/write activity.

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