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Asked: 2026-05-11T11:55:56+00:00

I have the following very large table in SQL Server 2005: create table Blah

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I have the following very large table in SQL Server 2005:

create table Blah  (   FirstName varchar(30),   Rank int,   Position int,   ... )

I will run the following query on it:

declare @PassedInFirstName varchar(30) set @PassedInFirstName = 'SomeName'  select TOP 1 Position from Blah where FirstName = @PassedInFirstName order by Rank DESC

I am setting up the following index on it:

CREATE INDEX IX_Blah ON Blah (FirstName, Rank)

Given that I order it by Rank DESC, should I change the index to order Rank in a descending way:

CREATE INDEX IX_Blah ON Blah (FirstName ASC, Rank DESC)

Or it does not matter?

Thanks.

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1 Answer

  1. If should benefit if the WHERE returns many rows.

    I’ve seen results where logical IO was reduced by 50% by using DESC in the INDEX to match an ORDER BY

    Also, change the query to covering:

    SQL 2005 +:

    CREATE INDEX IX_Blah ON Blah (FirstName, Rank DESC) INCLUDE (Position)

    SQL 2000, SQL 7:

    CREATE INDEX IX_Blah ON Blah (FirstName, Rank DESC, Position)
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