What do you mean by index scans?

What is an index scan in SQL?

An index scan or table scan is when SQL Server has to scan the data or index pages to find the appropriate records. A scan is the opposite of a seek, where a seek uses the index to pinpoint the records that are needed to satisfy the query.

What is index scan and index seek?

Index scan means it retrieves all the rows from the table and index seek means it retrieves selective rows from the table. INDEX SCAN: Index Scan touches every row in the table it is qualified or not, the cost is proportional to the total number of rows in the table.

What is table scan and index scan?

A table scan is performed on a table which does not have an Index upon it (a heap) – it looks at the rows in the table and an Index Scan is performed on an indexed table – the index itself.

Is index scan better than table scan?

3) index scan is faster than a table scan because they look at sorted data and query optimizers know when to stop and look for another range. 4) index seek is the fastest way to retrieve data and it comes into the picture when your search criterion is very specific.