TechNet
Products
IT Resources
Downloads
Training
Support
Products
Windows
Windows Server
System Center
Microsoft Edge
Office
Office 365
Exchange Server
SQL Server
SharePoint Products
Skype for Business
See all products »
Resources
Channel 9 Video
Evaluation Center
Learning Resources
Microsoft Tech Companion App
Microsoft Technical Communities
Microsoft Virtual Academy
Script Center
Server and Tools Blogs
TechNet Blogs
TechNet Flash Newsletter
TechNet Gallery
TechNet Library
TechNet Magazine
TechNet Wiki
Windows Sysinternals
Virtual Labs
Solutions
Networking
Cloud and Datacenter
Security
Virtualization
Updates
Service Packs
Security Bulletins
Windows Update
Trials
Windows Server 2016
System Center 2016
Windows 10 Enterprise
SQL Server 2016
See all trials »
Related Sites
Microsoft Download Center
Microsoft Evaluation Center
Drivers
Windows Sysinternals
TechNet Gallery
Training
Expert-led, virtual classes
Training Catalog
Class Locator
Microsoft Virtual Academy
Free Windows Server 2012 courses
Free Windows 8 courses
SQL Server training
Microsoft Official Courses On-Demand
Certifications
Certification overview
Special offers
MCSE Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
MCSE: Mobility
MCSE: Data Management and Analytics
MCSE Productivity
Other resources
Microsoft Events
Exam Replay
Born To Learn blog
Find technical communities in your area
Azure training
Official Practice Tests
Support options
For business
For developers
For IT professionals
For technical support
Support offerings
More support
Microsoft Premier Online
TechNet Forums
MSDN Forums
Security Bulletins & Advisories
Not an IT pro?
Microsoft Customer Support
Microsoft Community Forums
Sign in
Home
Library
Wiki
Learn
Gallery
Downloads
Support
Forums
Blogs
Resources For IT Professionals
United States (English)
Россия (Pусский)
中国(简体中文)
Brasil (Português)
Skip to locale bar
Post an article
Translate this page
Powered by
Microsoft® Translator
Wikis - Page Details
First published by
Eric N. Hanson MSFT
When:
15 Jun 2012 10:14 AM
Last revision by
Maheshkumar S Tiwari
When:
26 Sep 2013 5:23 AM
Revisions:
6
Comments:
1
Options
Subscribe to Article (RSS)
Share this
Engage!
Wiki Ninjas Blog
(
Announcements
)
Wiki Ninjas on Twitter
TechNet Wiki Discussion Forum
Can You Improve This Article?
Positively!
Click Sign In to add the tip, solution, correction or comment that will help other users.
Report inappropriate content using
these instructions
.
Wiki
>
TechNet Articles
>
Using a Drop-and-Rebuild Approach with Columnstores for a Nightly Load Scenario
Using a Drop-and-Rebuild Approach with Columnstores for a Nightly Load Scenario
Article
History
Using a Drop-and-Rebuild Approach with Columnstores for a Nightly Load Scenario
If you have a nightly load scenario, which is the case for most data warehouses and data marts, then there is no need to worry about the restriction that you can't update a table that has a columnstore index on it. All you need to do is drop the columnstore index, do your updates, then rebuild the index.
The time it takes to create a columnstore index is only a little more than the time it takes to created a clustered B-tree. For many fact tables, a 4-core processor can build a columnstore index on 100 million rows in a few minutes. Larger machines can index billions of rows in half an hour or less in many cases. Columnstore indexes can save time in ETL because for many customers, they can drop all their non-clustered B-tree indexes on fact tables. Not having these B-trees frees up time to build the columnstore.
If the time it takes to rebuild your indexes becomes too long to fit in your load window,
consider partitioning your columnstore-indexed fact tables
, and switching in partitions containing the new rows to add data. That way you won't have to drop the columnstore indexes to put new data in the fact tables.
Return to main SQL Server columnstore index tuning page.