Description for fill factor on index rebuild maint plan misleading

Hi.
I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
the fill factor was actually 10%.
We found the following in the maint plan:
'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
Do you also find this misleading?
The documentation (BOL) reads:
Change free space per page percentage to
Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the more
free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
Valid values are from 0 through 100.
It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
should read LOWER?
Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
about this already.
Thanks!
WayneWayne
I agree that it is a little bit confusing
> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
rebuild indexes is logged operation and needs a free space to rebuild all
indexes
Kalen Delaney said
"The first definition
is correct; fillfactor specifies how full each page should be. 30 means 30%
full, 100 means 100% full. The only special case is 0, which means the leaf
level is full, but there is room for one or two rows per page in the upper
levels of the index tree.
I will report this discrepancy in the Books Online definitions. "
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.sqlserver.programming/browse_thread/thread/eda35e4b5bedab51/535a1ef3d33f1d88?lnk=st&q=&rnum=3&hl=en#535a1ef3d33f1d88
"Wayne" <Wayne@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D30307D8-C6C6-4196-AB44-76E2F7958714@.microsoft.com...
> Hi.
> I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
> We found the following in the maint plan:
> 'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
> In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
> Do you also find this misleading?
> The documentation (BOL) reads:
>
> Change free space per page percentage to
> Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
> new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
> amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the
> more
> free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
> Valid values are from 0 through 100.
>
> It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
> should read LOWER?
>
> Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
>
> Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
> about this already.
> Thanks!
> Wayne
>|||"Wayne" <Wayne@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D30307D8-C6C6-4196-AB44-76E2F7958714@.microsoft.com...
> Hi.
> I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
> We found the following in the maint plan:
> 'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
> In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
> Do you also find this misleading?
> The documentation (BOL) reads:
>
> Change free space per page percentage to
> Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
> new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
> amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the
> more
> free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
> Valid values are from 0 through 100.
>
> It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
> should read LOWER?
>
> Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
>
> Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
> about this already.
>
Anyone can submit doc bugs. The feedback link at the bottom of the BOL
topics will generate an email that automatically creates a doc bug.
David

Description for fill factor on index rebuild maint plan misleading

Hi.
I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
the fill factor was actually 10%.
We found the following in the maint plan:
'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
Do you also find this misleading?
The documentation (BOL) reads:
Change free space per page percentage to
Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the more
free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
Valid values are from 0 through 100.
It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
should read LOWER?
Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
about this already.
Thanks!
WayneWayne
I agree that it is a little bit confusing

> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
rebuild indexes is logged operation and needs a free space to rebuild all
indexes
Kalen Delaney said
"The first definition
is correct; fillfactor specifies how full each page should be. 30 means 30%
full, 100 means 100% full. The only special case is 0, which means the leaf
level is full, but there is room for one or two rows per page in the upper
levels of the index tree.
I will report this discrepancy in the Books Online definitions. "
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...33f1d88

"Wayne" <Wayne@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D30307D8-C6C6-4196-AB44-76E2F7958714@.microsoft.com...
> Hi.
> I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
> We found the following in the maint plan:
> 'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
> In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
> Do you also find this misleading?
> The documentation (BOL) reads:
>
> Change free space per page percentage to
> Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
> new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
> amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the
> more
> free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
> Valid values are from 0 through 100.
>
> It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
> should read LOWER?
>
> Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
>
> Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
> about this already.
> Thanks!
> Wayne
>|||"Wayne" <Wayne@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D30307D8-C6C6-4196-AB44-76E2F7958714@.microsoft.com...
> Hi.
> I found this misleading issue and thought I would share it.
> We set up a maint plan on a SQL2005 RTM box to rebuild our indexes with a
> fillfactor of 90%. After the plan ran, the database grew by about 70% and
> the fill factor was actually 10%.
> We found the following in the maint plan:
> 'Change free space per page percentage to:' We entered 10%.
> In hindsight, it meant FILLFACTOR and should have been 90%.
> Do you also find this misleading?
> The documentation (BOL) reads:
>
> Change free space per page percentage to
> Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a
> new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified
> amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the
> more
> free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows.
> Valid values are from 0 through 100.
>
> It says the HIGHER the percentage, the more free space is reserved. This
> should read LOWER?
>
> Is this a 'bug' in the documentation?
>
> Could someone please pass this onto the Microsoft guys. Maybe they know
> about this already.
>
Anyone can submit doc bugs. The feedback link at the bottom of the BOL
topics will generate an email that automatically creates a doc bug.
David

deploy maintenance plans?

Hi. I have a maintenece plan on my development server that rebuilds
indexes and updates statistics of a certian database that undergoes a
lot of updates of data daily; it also truncates the log file and backs
up the database.
Now, is there any way to script it to deploy it to client computers,
either as is or within a setup routine with names and paths inserted on
the fly?Oh. This is about SQL Server 2005|||Eh? Deploy it to client computers?
What do you mean by "it?"
The maintenance plan?
The database(s) that you back up?
What do you mean by "client computer?"
Desktops?
Servers running SQL Server?
To me, a client computer means a desktop or notebook. These computers do
not have SQL Server installed and they should not need a maintenance plan or
a database deployed to it.
I am guessing that many people are confused by your question. If you can
better explan what you want to do perhaps someone will be able to provide an
answer.
--
Keith Kratochvil
<realgeek@.gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1160060522.143749.302550@.i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi. I have a maintenece plan on my development server that rebuilds
> indexes and updates statistics of a certian database that undergoes a
> lot of updates of data daily; it also truncates the log file and backs
> up the database.
> Now, is there any way to script it to deploy it to client computers,
> either as is or within a setup routine with names and paths inserted on
> the fly?
>|||> What do you mean by "client computer?"
> Desktops?
> Servers running SQL Server?
> To me, a client computer means a desktop or notebook. These computers do
> not have SQL Server installed and they should not need a maintenance plan or
> a database deployed to it.
>
By it, I mean a maintenance plan, by client computer, I mean client
server, e.g. the place where the application is deployed.
I have an installation script that restores database to a chosen
location from backup provided with installation (the db initially has a
lot of data so I chose that over scripting it), creates and maps logins
etc; I wanted to add maintenance plan creation script to it but I found
no way to script maintenance plan from Management Studio|||realgeek@.gmail.com wrote:
> By it, I mean a maintenance plan, by client computer, I mean client
> server, e.g. the place where the application is deployed.
> I have an installation script that restores database to a chosen
> location from backup provided with installation (the db initially has a
> lot of data so I chose that over scripting it), creates and maps logins
> etc; I wanted to add maintenance plan creation script to it but I found
> no way to script maintenance plan from Management Studio
>
I think you would be better off NOT using Maintenance Plans in this
manner. Write your own sprocs to do backups, DBCC checks, reindexing,
etc, and deploy those sprocs instead. Much easier to manage and debug
than Maintenance Plans.
Tracy McKibben
MCDBA
http://www.realsqlguy.com|||I agree 100%
--
Keith Kratochvil
"Tracy McKibben" <tracy@.realsqlguy.com> wrote in message
news:452B9819.8060707@.realsqlguy.com...
> realgeek@.gmail.com wrote:
>> By it, I mean a maintenance plan, by client computer, I mean client
>> server, e.g. the place where the application is deployed.
>> I have an installation script that restores database to a chosen
>> location from backup provided with installation (the db initially has a
>> lot of data so I chose that over scripting it), creates and maps logins
>> etc; I wanted to add maintenance plan creation script to it but I found
>> no way to script maintenance plan from Management Studio
> I think you would be better off NOT using Maintenance Plans in this
> manner. Write your own sprocs to do backups, DBCC checks, reindexing,
> etc, and deploy those sprocs instead. Much easier to manage and debug
> than Maintenance Plans.
>
> --
> Tracy McKibben
> MCDBA
> http://www.realsqlguy.com