Sql-server – Rebuilding index has impact on mdf/ldf files SQL Server 2008

If you have an index on created then the planner will need to choose between an using that index or the PK (or a full table scan) - it will not benefit from both at the same time.

--EDIT

As pointed out by @jug in the comments below, this is not accurate at least since 8.1: the planner may choose to build two in-memory bitmaps and combine them to get the result set. This gets more expensive as the tables get bigger, so the planner may choose not to do this depending on the size of the table and the estimated cost of using one index and then filtering.

--END EDIT

The new index will only be helpful if in some cases using it is more efficient than access via the PK. The kind of things that could make this likely include:

• A large number of (...) in SELECT * FROM foo WHERE foo_id IN (...) AND created > 1234 AND created <= 6789
• A small range, eg created > 6780 AND created <= 6790

Unless one or both is likely to happen, you should not create the secondary index - if they might, it would be best to test each scenario with and without the index to see if any performance benefit is worth the cost (eg increased storage and overhead for insert and update operation)

While the cube builds, you can run Adam Machanic's sp_WhoIsActive diagnostic tool to see which queries are allocating space in TempDB. I recorded an sp_WhoIsActive tutorial video to show how it works. Include the @get_plans = 1 parameter when you call it, and you'll also get the execution plans. That way you can see exactly what's using TempDB and why.