A SQL Database is like a dog, everyone asks how big it’s going to get… Here’s how to find out!
Sizing Your SQL Solution
When you’re in the planning phase of a database project, one of the important questions is how much space your data will take up. This is important for a number of reasons;
- What will your hardware configuration be
- Help to determine the performance requirements
- Most importantly how much disk space do you need to ask for !!
I stumbled across this MSDN article today, here, which is an update for SQL 2014, however previous version are also available from links on the page. The estimation process is reviewed over a series of articles and references. The overall process requires you to sum up an estimate the size of each table and then the required indexes by type.
Steps included
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Estimate the Size of a Table | Defines the steps and calculations needed to estimate the amount of space required to store the data in a table and associated indexes. |
| Estimate the Size of a Heap | Defines the steps and calculations needed to estimate the amount of space required to store the data in a heap. A heap is a table that does not have a clustered index. |
| Estimate the Size of a Clustered Index | Defines the steps and calculations needed to estimate the amount of space required to store the data in a clustered index. |
| Estimate the Size of a Nonclustered Index | Defines the steps and calculations needed to estimate the amount of space required to store the data in a nonclustered index. |
Hint of what’s to come!
I am currently working on an extended example which puts it all together. Hope to finish this soon.
Let me know if you find this helpful by adding a comment.
Steve
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