How to find largest objects in a SQL Server database?

Question

How would I go about finding the largest objects in a SQL Server database? First, by determining which tables (and related indices) are the largest and then determining whi

Answer 1

@marc_s's answer is very great and I've been using it for few years. However, I noticed that the script misses data in some columnstore indexes and doesn't show complete picture. E.g. when you do SUM(TotalSpace) against the script and compare it with total space database property in Management Studio the numbers don't match in my case (Management Studio shows larger numbers). I modified the script to overcome this issue and extended it a little bit:

select
    tables.[name] as table_name,
    schemas.[name] as schema_name,
    isnull(db_name(dm_db_index_usage_stats.database_id), 'Unknown') as database_name,
    sum(allocation_units.total_pages) * 8 as total_space_kb,
    cast(round(((sum(allocation_units.total_pages) * 8) / 1024.00), 2) as numeric(36, 2)) as total_space_mb,
    sum(allocation_units.used_pages) * 8 as used_space_kb,
    cast(round(((sum(allocation_units.used_pages) * 8) / 1024.00), 2) as numeric(36, 2)) as used_space_mb,
    (sum(allocation_units.total_pages) - sum(allocation_units.used_pages)) * 8 as unused_space_kb,
    cast(round(((sum(allocation_units.total_pages) - sum(allocation_units.used_pages)) * 8) / 1024.00, 2) as numeric(36, 2)) as unused_space_mb,
    count(distinct indexes.index_id) as indexes_count,
    max(dm_db_partition_stats.row_count) as row_count,
    iif(max(isnull(user_seeks, 0)) = 0 and max(isnull(user_scans, 0)) = 0 and max(isnull(user_lookups, 0)) = 0, 1, 0) as no_reads,
    iif(max(isnull(user_updates, 0)) = 0, 1, 0) as no_writes,
    max(isnull(user_seeks, 0)) as user_seeks,
    max(isnull(user_scans, 0)) as user_scans,
    max(isnull(user_lookups, 0)) as user_lookups,
    max(isnull(user_updates, 0)) as user_updates,
    max(last_user_seek) as last_user_seek,
    max(last_user_scan) as last_user_scan,
    max(last_user_lookup) as last_user_lookup,
    max(last_user_update) as last_user_update,
    max(tables.create_date) as create_date,
    max(tables.modify_date) as modify_date
from 
    sys.tables
    left join sys.schemas on schemas.schema_id = tables.schema_id
    left join sys.indexes on tables.object_id = indexes.object_id
    left join sys.partitions on indexes.object_id = partitions.object_id and indexes.index_id = partitions.index_id
    left join sys.allocation_units on partitions.partition_id = allocation_units.container_id
    left join sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats on tables.object_id = dm_db_index_usage_stats.object_id and indexes.index_id = dm_db_index_usage_stats.index_id
    left join sys.dm_db_partition_stats on tables.object_id = dm_db_partition_stats.object_id and indexes.index_id = dm_db_partition_stats.index_id
group by schemas.[name], tables.[name], isnull(db_name(dm_db_index_usage_stats.database_id), 'Unknown')
order by 5 desc

Hope it will be helpful for someone. This script was tested against large TB-wide databases with hundreds of different tables, indexes and schemas.