Few days ago, I wrote about SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS (Link). A user asked me a question regarding if we can use similar reports to get the detail about Indexes. Yes, it is possible to do the same. There are similar type of reports are available at Database level, just like those available at the Server Instance level. You can right click on Database name and click Reports. Under Standard Reports, you will find following reports.
 Disk Usage
 Disk Usage by Top Tables
 Disk Usage by Table
 Disk Usage by Partition
 Backup and Restore Events
 All Transactions
 All Blocking Transactions
 Top Transactions by Age
 Top Transactions by Blocked Transactions Count
 Top Transactions by Locks Count
 Resource Locking Statistics by Objects
 Object Execute Statistics
 Database Consistency history
 Index Usage Statistics
 Index Physical Statistics
 Schema Change history
 User Statistics
Select the Reports with name Index Physical Statistics. Once click, a report containing all the index names along with other information related to index will be visible, e.g. Index Type and number of partitions.
One column that caught my interest was Operation Recommended. In some place, it suggested that index needs to be rebuilt. It is also possible to click and expand the column of partitions and see additional details about index as well. DBA and Developers who just want to have idea about how your index is and its physical statistics can use this tool.
Click to Enlarge
Note: Please note that I will rebuild my indexes just because this report is recommending it. There are many other parameters you need to consider before rebuilding indexes.
However, this tool gives you the accurate stats of your index and it can be right away exported to Excel or PDF writing by clicking on the report.
Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)
Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Utility, T SQL, Technology