Meet the challenge of storing and accessing analytic data in SQL Server with speed and efficiency—now with expanded coverage of SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL Database features.

This updated second edition also explores how columnstore indexes compare to other modern analytic storage options, helping you make informed architectural decisions. Whether you're optimizing OLAP workloads or modernizing your data platform, this practical guide shows how columnstore indexes deliver faster query performance and enable rapid business intelligence insights.

Inside, you'll find a complete walkthrough of columnstore indexing, from foundational concepts to detailed architecture, implementation, and maintenance strategies. Learn best practices, explore hands-on demonstrations, and uncover common mistakes to avoid. Whether you're new to columnstore or looking to deepen your expertise, this book offers clear, actionable, and definitive guidance for development, testing, and production environments.

Discover how columnstore indexes reduce storage costs, boost performance, and simplify data management—without requiring additional licensing. Gain insight into when and how to use them, and how to architect scalable, high-performance analytic solutions in SQL Server.

You Will Learn To:

• Apply best practices for the use and maintenance of analytic data in SQL Server
• Use metadata to understand the size and shape of data
• Load, maintain, and delete data from large analytic tables
• Leverage columnstore compression to save storage, memory, and time
• Choose between columnstore and rowstore indexes
• Avoid performance pitfalls and leverage advanced features

Who This Book Is For

Database developers, administrators, and architects working with large analytic datasets who need a reliable, cost-effective way to improve query performance in SQL Server.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Analytic Data in a Transactional Database

Chapter 2: Transactional vs. Analytic Workloads

Chapter 3: What Are Columnstore Indexes?

Chapter 4: Columnstore Index Architecture

Chapter 5: Columnstore Compression

Chapter 6: Columnstore Metadata

Chapter 7: Batch Execution

Chapter 8: Bulk Loading Data

Chapter 9: Delete and Update Operations

Chapter 10: Segment and Rowgroup Elimination

Chapter 11: Partitioning

Chapter 12: Non-clustered Columnstore Indexes on Rowstore Tables

Chapter 13: Non-clustered Rowstore Indexes on Columnstore Tables

Chapter 14: Columnstore Index Maintenance

Chapter 15: Columnstore Index Performance

Chapter 16: Ordered Columnstore Indexes

About the Author

Edward Pollack has over 20 years of experience in database and systems administration, architecture, and development, becoming an advocate for designing efficient data structures that can withstand the test of time. He has spoken at many events, such as SQL Saturdays, PASS Community Summit, Dativerse, and at many user groups and is the organizer of SQL Saturday Albany. Edward has authored many articles, as well as the book Dynamic SQL: Applications, Performance, and Security, and a chapter in Expert T-SQL Window Functions in SQL Server.