Online Library Internet News Internet Investing Internet Technology Windows Internet Tech. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which indexes to use when processing a query. In this case, the query optimizer uses distribution pages. SQL Server 6.5 cannot update distribution statistics automatically as SQL Server 7.0 can, so you should manually update distribution statistics when a large amount of data in an indexed column has been added, changed, or deleted. In this article, I want to tell you about structure of the distribution pages, about distribution step and index density, and about how you can view and update distribution statistics.
Every index can have only one distribution page.
The distribution page is used by query optimizer to determine which indexes to use when processing a query, or to determine whether it is more efficient to use the index or to scan the table. The size of a distribution page is 2Kb, i.e. 2048 bytes, as well as the size of other SQL Server 6.5 pages. Other space is used to store the distribution steps. From the Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 program group, double-click the SQL Enterprise Manager icon. From the Server Manager window, select a server.