Odd situation. My best guess is that the fill factor is very high and the nvarchar column(s) are being increased in length after the row is inserted.
Based on the very limited info available so far, I'd suggest the following:
ALTER INDEX PK_tbl_SLA_Activities ON tbl_SLA_Activities REBUILD WITH ( FILLFACTOR = 95 );
EXEC sp_tableoption 'tbl_SLA_Activities', 'large value types out of row', 'ON'
If you want to really review the index usage more fully, run the script below and post the two query results as columns, not just a long string of text for each row.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
SET DEADLOCK_PRIORITY -8;
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.#index_specs') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE dbo.#index_specs
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.#index_missing') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE dbo.#index_missing
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb.dbo.#index_usage') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE dbo.#index_usage
CREATE TABLE dbo.#index_specs (
object_id int NOT NULL,
index_id int NOT NULL,
min_compression int NULL,
max_compression int NULL,
drive char(1) NULL,
alloc_mb decimal(9, 1) NOT NULL,
used_mb decimal(9, 1) NOT NULL,
rows bigint NULL,
size_rank int NULL,
approx_max_data_width bigint NULL,
UNIQUE CLUSTERED ( object_id, index_id )
)
DECLARE @list_missing_indexes bit
DECLARE @list_missing_indexes_summary bit
DECLARE @list_filegroup_size_summary bit
DECLARE @include_schema_in_table_names bit
DECLARE @table_name_pattern sysname
DECLARE @order_by smallint --1=table_name; 2=size; -2=size DESC;.
DECLARE @format_counts smallint --1=with commas, no decimals; 2/3=with K=1000s,M=1000000s, with 2=0 dec. or 3=1 dec. places;.
DECLARE @debug smallint
--NOTE: listing missing indexes can take some time; set to 0 if you don't want to wait.
SET @list_missing_indexes = 1
SET @list_missing_indexes_summary = 0
SET @list_filegroup_size_summary = 0
SET @include_schema_in_table_names = 0
SET @table_name_pattern = 'tbl_SLA_Activities'
SET @order_by = 1
SET @format_counts = 3
SET @debug = 0
PRINT 'Started @ ' + CONVERT(varchar(30), GETDATE(), 120)
DECLARE @is_compression_available bit
DECLARE @sql varchar(8000)
IF CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS varchar(30)) LIKE '9%'
OR CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') AS varchar(40)) NOT LIKE '%Enterprise%'
SET @is_compression_available = 0
ELSE
SET @is_compression_available = 1
SET @sql = '
INSERT INTO #index_specs ( object_id, index_id,' +
CASE WHEN @is_compression_available = 0 THEN '' ELSE '
min_compression, max_compression,' END + '
alloc_mb, used_mb, rows )
SELECT
part.object_id,
part.index_id,' +
CASE WHEN @is_compression_available = 0 THEN '' ELSE '
ISNULL(MIN(part.data_compression), 0) AS min_compression,
ISNULL(MAX(part.data_compression), 0) AS max_compression,' END + '
MAX(au.total_pages) / 128.0 AS alloc_mb,
MAX(au.used_pages) / 128.0 AS used_mb,
MAX(part.rows) AS rows
FROM sys.partitions part
CROSS APPLY (
SELECT SUM(au2.total_pages) AS total_pages, SUM(au2.used_pages) AS used_pages
FROM sys.allocation_units au2
WHERE
au2.container_id = part.partition_id
) AS au
GROUP BY
part.object_id,
part.index_id
'
IF @debug >= 1
PRINT @sql
EXEC(@sql)
UPDATE [is]
SET approx_max_data_width = index_cols.approx_max_data_width
FROM #index_specs [is]
INNER JOIN (
SELECT index_col_ids.object_id, index_col_ids.index_id,
SUM(CASE WHEN c.max_length = -1 THEN 16 ELSE c.max_length END) AS approx_max_data_width
FROM (
SELECT ic.object_id, ic.index_id, ic.column_id
--,object_name(ic.object_id)
FROM sys.index_columns ic
WHERE
ic.object_id > 100
UNION
SELECT i_nonclus.object_id, i_nonclus.index_id, ic_clus.column_id
--,object_name(i_nonclus.object_id)
FROM sys.indexes i_nonclus
CROSS APPLY (
SELECT ic_clus2.column_id
--,object_name(ic_clus2.object_id),ic_clus2.key_ordinal
FROM sys.index_columns ic_clus2
WHERE
ic_clus2.object_id = i_nonclus.object_id AND
ic_clus2.index_id = 1 AND
ic_clus2.key_ordinal > 0 --technically superfluous, since clus index can't have include'd cols anyway
) AS ic_clus
WHERE
i_nonclus.object_id > 100 AND
i_nonclus.index_id > 1
) AS index_col_ids
INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON c.object_id = index_col_ids.object_id AND c.column_id = index_col_ids.column_id
GROUP BY index_col_ids.object_id, index_col_ids.index_id
) AS index_cols ON index_cols.object_id = [is].object_id AND index_cols.index_id = [is].index_id
UPDATE ispec
SET size_rank = ispec_ranking.size_rank
FROM #index_specs ispec
INNER JOIN (
SELECT object_id, ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY alloc_mb DESC, rows DESC, OBJECT_NAME(object_id)) AS size_rank
FROM (
SELECT object_id, SUM(alloc_mb) AS alloc_mb, MAX(rows) AS rows
FROM #index_specs
GROUP BY object_id
) AS ispec_allocs
) AS ispec_ranking ON
ispec_ranking.object_id = ispec.object_id
IF @list_missing_indexes = 1
BEGIN
SELECT
IDENTITY(int, 1, 1) AS ident,
DB_NAME(mid.database_id) AS Db_Name,
CONVERT(varchar(10), GETDATE(), 120) AS capture_date,
ispec.size_rank, ispec.alloc_mb,
CASE WHEN @format_counts = 1 THEN REPLACE(CONVERT(varchar(20), CAST(dps.row_count AS money), 1), '.00', '')
WHEN @format_counts = 2 THEN CAST(CAST(dps.row_count * 1.0 / CASE ca1.row_count_suffix
WHEN 'M' THEN 1000000 WHEN 'K' THEN 1000 ELSE 1 END AS int) AS varchar(20)) + ca1.row_count_suffix
WHEN @format_counts = 3 THEN CAST(CAST(dps.row_count * 1.0 / CASE ca1.row_count_suffix
WHEN 'M' THEN 1000000 WHEN 'K' THEN 1000 ELSE 1 END AS decimal(14, 1)) AS varchar(20)) + ca1.row_count_suffix
ELSE CAST(dps.row_count AS varchar(20)) END AS row_count,
CASE WHEN @include_schema_in_table_names = 1 THEN OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(mid.object_id /*, mid.database_id*/) + '.'
ELSE '' END + OBJECT_NAME(mid.object_id /*, mid.database_id*/) AS Table_Name,
mid.equality_columns, mid.inequality_columns, mid.included_columns,
user_seeks, user_scans, cj1.max_days_active, unique_compiles,
last_user_seek, last_user_scan,
CAST(avg_total_user_cost AS decimal(9, 2)) AS avg_total_user_cost,
CAST(avg_user_impact AS decimal(9, 2)) AS [avg_user_impact%],
system_seeks, system_scans, last_system_seek, last_system_scan,
CAST(avg_total_system_cost AS decimal(9, 2)) AS avg_total_system_cost,
CAST(avg_system_impact AS decimal(9, 2)) AS [avg_system_impact%],
mid.statement, mid.object_id, mid.index_handle
INTO #index_missing
FROM sys.dm_db_missing_index_details mid /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
CROSS JOIN (
SELECT DATEDIFF(DAY, create_date, GETDATE()) AS max_days_active FROM sys.databases /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ WHERE name = 'tempdb'
) AS cj1
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.dm_db_missing_index_groups mig /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
mig.index_handle = mid.index_handle
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.dm_db_missing_index_group_stats migs /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
migs.group_handle = mig.index_group_handle
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.dm_db_partition_stats dps /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
dps.object_id = mid.object_id AND
dps.index_id IN (0, 1)
CROSS APPLY (
SELECT CASE WHEN dps.row_count >= 1000000 THEN 'M' WHEN dps.row_count >= 1000 THEN 'K' ELSE '' END AS row_count_suffix
) AS ca1
OUTER APPLY (
SELECT ispec.alloc_mb, ispec.size_rank
FROM dbo.#index_specs ispec
WHERE
ispec.object_id = mid.object_id AND
ispec.index_id IN (0, 1)
) AS ispec
--order by
--DB_NAME, Table_Name, equality_columns
WHERE
1 = 1
AND mid.database_id = DB_ID()
AND OBJECT_NAME(mid.object_id) LIKE @table_name_pattern
ORDER BY
--avg_total_user_cost * (user_seeks + user_scans) DESC,
Db_Name,
CASE WHEN @order_by IN (-2, 2) THEN ispec.size_rank * -SIGN(@order_by) ELSE 0 END,
Table_Name,
equality_columns, inequality_columns,
user_seeks DESC
SELECT *
FROM #index_missing
ORDER BY ident
IF @list_missing_indexes_summary = 1
BEGIN
SELECT
derived.Size_Rank, derived.alloc_mb,
derived.Table_Name, derived.Equality_Column, derived.Equality#, derived.User_Seeks,
ISNULL((SELECT SUM(user_seeks)
FROM #index_missing im2
CROSS APPLY DBA.dbo.DelimitedSplit8K (inequality_columns, ',') ds
WHERE im2.Size_Rank = derived.Size_Rank AND
LTRIM(RTRIM(ds.Item)) = derived.Equality_Column
), 0) AS Inequality_Seeks,
derived.User_Scans, derived.Last_User_Seek, derived.Last_User_Scan,
derived.Max_Days_Active, derived.Avg_Total_User_Cost, derived.Approx_Total_Cost
FROM (
SELECT
Size_Rank, MAX(alloc_mb) AS alloc_mb, Table_Name, LTRIM(RTRIM(ds.Item)) AS Equality_Column,
SUM(user_seeks) AS User_Seeks, SUM(user_scans) AS User_Scans,
MAX(last_user_seek) AS Last_User_Seek, MAX(last_user_scan) AS Last_User_Scan,
MIN(max_days_active) AS Max_Days_Active,
MAX(avg_total_user_cost) AS Avg_Total_User_Cost,
(SUM(user_seeks) + SUM(user_scans)) * MAX(avg_total_user_cost) AS Approx_Total_Cost,
MAX(ds.ItemNumber) AS Equality#
FROM #index_missing
CROSS APPLY DBA.dbo.DelimitedSplit8K (equality_columns, ',') ds
WHERE equality_columns IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY size_rank, Table_Name, LTRIM(RTRIM(ds.Item))
) AS derived
ORDER BY Size_Rank, Table_Name, Approx_Total_Cost DESC
END --IF
END --IF
PRINT 'Index Usage Stats @ ' + CONVERT(varchar(30), GETDATE(), 120)
-- list index usage stats (seeks, scans, etc.)
SELECT
IDENTITY(int, 1, 1) AS ident,
DB_NAME() AS db_name,
--ispec.drive AS drv,
ispec.size_rank, ispec.alloc_mb - ispec.used_mb AS unused_mb,
--ispec.alloc_mb AS alloc_mb_raw,
CAST(ispec.alloc_mb / 1000.0 AS decimal(9, 4)) AS alloc_gb,
SUBSTRING('NY', CAST(i.is_primary_key AS int) + CAST(i.is_unique_constraint AS int) + 1, 1) +
CASE WHEN i.is_unique = CAST(i.is_primary_key AS int) + CAST(i.is_unique_constraint AS int) THEN ''
ELSE '.' + SUBSTRING('NY', CAST(i.is_unique AS int) + 1, 1) END AS [uniq?],
REPLACE(i.name, ca1.table_name, '~') AS index_name,
CASE WHEN @include_schema_in_table_names = 1 THEN OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(i.object_id /*, DB_ID()*/) + '.'
ELSE '' END + OBJECT_NAME(i.object_id /*, i.database_id*/) AS Table_Name,
dps.row_count AS row_count_raw,
i.index_id,
ispec.approx_max_data_width AS [data_width],
SUBSTRING(key_cols, 3, 8000) AS key_cols, SUBSTRING(nonkey_cols, 3, 8000) AS nonkey_cols,
ius.user_seeks, ius.user_scans, --ius.user_seeks + ius.user_scans AS total_reads,
ius.user_lookups, ius.user_updates,
dios.leaf_delete_count + dios.leaf_insert_count + dios.leaf_update_count as leaf_mod_count,
dios.range_scan_count, dios.singleton_lookup_count,
DATEDIFF(DAY, STATS_DATE ( i.object_id , i.index_id ), GETDATE()) AS stats_days_old,
DATEDIFF(DAY, CASE
WHEN o.create_date > cj1.sql_startup_date AND o.create_date > o.modify_date THEN o.create_date
WHEN o.modify_date > cj1.sql_startup_date AND o.modify_date > o.create_date THEN o.modify_date
ELSE cj1.sql_startup_date END, GETDATE()) AS max_days_active,
dios.row_lock_count, dios.row_lock_wait_in_ms,
dios.page_lock_count, dios.page_lock_wait_in_ms,
ius.last_user_seek, ius.last_user_scan,
ius.last_user_lookup, ius.last_user_update,
fk.Reference_Count AS fk_ref_count,
i.fill_factor,
ius2.row_num,
CASE
WHEN ispec.max_compression IS NULL THEN '(Not applicable)'
WHEN ispec.max_compression = 2 THEN 'Page'
WHEN ispec.max_compression = 1 THEN 'Row'
WHEN ispec.max_compression = 0 THEN ''
ELSE '(Unknown)' END AS max_compression,
FILEGROUP_NAME(i.data_space_id) AS main_fg_name,
ius.system_seeks, ius.system_scans, ius.system_lookups, ius.system_updates,
ius.last_system_seek, ius.last_system_scan, ius.last_system_lookup, ius.last_system_update,
GETDATE() AS capture_date
INTO #index_usage
FROM sys.indexes i /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
INNER JOIN sys.objects o /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
o.object_id = i.object_id
CROSS JOIN (
SELECT create_date AS sql_startup_date FROM sys.databases /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ WHERE name = 'tempdb'
) AS cj1
OUTER APPLY (
SELECT CASE WHEN EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM #index_specs [is] WHERE [is].object_id = i.object_id AND [is].index_id = 1)
THEN 1 ELSE 0 END AS has_clustered_index
) AS cj2
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.#index_specs ispec ON
ispec.object_id = i.object_id AND
ispec.index_id = i.index_id
OUTER APPLY (
SELECT
', ' + COL_NAME(ic.object_id, ic.column_id)
FROM sys.index_columns ic /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
WHERE
ic.key_ordinal > 0 AND
ic.object_id = i.object_id AND
ic.index_id = i.index_id
ORDER BY
ic.key_ordinal
FOR XML PATH('')
) AS key_cols (key_cols)
OUTER APPLY (
SELECT
', ' + COL_NAME(ic.object_id, ic.column_id)
FROM sys.index_columns ic /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
WHERE
ic.key_ordinal = 0 AND
ic.object_id = i.object_id AND
ic.index_id = i.index_id
ORDER BY
COL_NAME(ic.object_id, ic.column_id)
FOR XML PATH('')
) AS nonkey_cols (nonkey_cols)
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.dm_db_partition_stats dps /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
dps.object_id = i.object_id AND
dps.index_id = i.index_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats ius /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/ ON
ius.database_id = DB_ID() AND
ius.object_id = i.object_id AND
ius.index_id = i.index_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN (
SELECT
database_id, object_id, MAX(user_scans) AS user_scans,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY MAX(user_scans) DESC) AS row_num --user_scans|user_seeks+user_scans
FROM sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
WHERE
database_id = DB_ID()
--AND index_id > 0
GROUP BY
database_id, object_id
) AS ius2 ON
ius2.database_id = DB_ID() AND
ius2.object_id = i.object_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN (
SELECT
referenced_object_id, COUNT(*) AS Reference_Count
FROM sys.foreign_keys /*WITH (NOLOCK)*/
WHERE
is_disabled = 0
GROUP BY
referenced_object_id
) AS fk ON
fk.referenced_object_id = i.object_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN (
SELECT *
FROM sys.dm_db_index_operational_stats ( DB_ID(), NULL, NULL, NULL )
) AS dios ON
dios.object_id = i.object_id AND
dios.index_id = i.index_id
OUTER APPLY (
SELECT OBJECT_NAME(i.object_id/*, DB_ID()*/) AS table_name
) AS ca1
WHERE
i.object_id > 100 AND
i.is_hypothetical = 0 AND
i.type IN (0, 1, 2) AND
o.type NOT IN ( 'IF', 'IT', 'TF', 'TT' ) AND
(
o.name LIKE @table_name_pattern AND
o.name NOT LIKE 'dtprop%' AND
o.name NOT LIKE 'filestream[_]' AND
o.name NOT LIKE 'MSpeer%' AND
o.name NOT LIKE 'MSpub%' AND
--o.name NOT LIKE 'queue[_]%' AND
o.name NOT LIKE 'sys%'
)
ORDER BY
--cj2.has_clustered_index, ispec.size_rank, --heaps first, by size
db_name,
--i.index_id,
--ius.user_seeks - ius.user_scans,
CASE WHEN @order_by IN (-2, 2) THEN ispec.size_rank * -SIGN(@order_by) ELSE 0 END,
--ius.user_scans DESC,
--ius2.row_num, --user_scans&|user_seeks
table_name,
-- list clustered index first, if any, then other index(es)
CASE WHEN i.index_id IN (0, 1) THEN 1 ELSE 2 END,
key_cols
SELECT *
FROM #index_usage
ORDER BY ident
IF @list_filegroup_size_summary = 1
BEGIN
SELECT
LEFT(df.physical_name, 1) AS drive,
FILEGROUP_NAME(au_totals.data_space_id) AS filegroup_name,
au_totals.total_mb AS total_fg_mb,
au_totals.used_mb AS used_fg_mb,
au_totals.total_mb - au_totals.used_mb AS free_fg_mb,
CAST(df.size / 128.0 AS decimal(9, 2)) AS file_size_mb
FROM (
SELECT
au.data_space_id,
CAST(SUM(au.total_pages) / 128.0 AS decimal(9, 2)) AS total_mb,
CAST(SUM(au.used_pages) / 128.0 AS decimal(9, 2)) AS used_mb
FROM sys.allocation_units au
INNER JOIN sys.filegroups fg ON
fg.data_space_id = au.data_space_id
GROUP BY au.data_space_id WITH ROLLUP
) AS au_totals
INNER JOIN sys.database_files df ON
df.data_space_id = au_totals.data_space_id
ORDER BY filegroup_name, drive
END /*IF*/
PRINT 'Ended @ ' + CONVERT(varchar(30), GETDATE(), 120)
SET DEADLOCK_PRIORITY NORMAL