Alright, I have a database for a web project that is 8gb(!!!!!!!!!) in size. This takes a heck of a long time to search through (around 8 seconds to run a query). Any suggestions to how to cut this time down dramatically? It would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Are you talking one table? without seeing your structure all I can say is to get a faster server...

Cheers Sam

LOL Sam,

A few questions:

What kind of data?

Is the database normalized?

Are you using indexes?

Are you searching along the indexed fields?

Indexes add overhead but speed up searches when the search is on the indexed field. If you have only one table and 8gb of data, you probably (not guaranteed) have a design problem.

What platform are you on?

Are your searches pulling back the whole database?

What language are you using to access the db?

H

Hehe, sorry about the lack of detail, I was in a rush yesterday and didn't have time to finish. anyways...

What kind of data?
normal everyday text

Is the database normalized?
meh? lol...

Are you using indexes?
No

Are you searching along the indexed fields?
no

Indexes add overhead but speed up searches when the search is on the indexed field. If you have only one table and 8gb of data, you probably (not guaranteed) have a design problem.

What platform are you on?
SWL Server 2000

Are your searches pulling back the whole database?
no

What language are you using to access the db?
SQL

OK, here's how it works, I have nearly 1000 unique tables, I'm currently pulling data using SQL using Inner Joins; linking around 5 different tables at once. So I'm not pulling the whole database, but it still has to search through a hefty amount, for I am using the largest tables out of the database... seems to take a long time and was just wondering if I can speed it up. And this may sound funny, but I haven't really used indexing before, is this something I should look into? Thanks again....

Yes, use indices. Take a look at the query plan for your slow queries and find out where expensive scans are occurring. Then you can index those columns where you get the most gain. You will want to index the keys on the large tables.

I haven't used sql server 2000 in a while, but I remember it had a query optimizer that would suggest indices. Good to use to get started.