## The SQL Performance Battle: Index Seek vs. Index Scan
If you're dealing with SQL queries that are TOO SLOW and causing HIGH CPU USAGE, the root cause is often a suboptimal execution plan that relies on an Index Scan. Understanding the difference between Index Scan and Index Seek is critical for database performance tuning.
### 🛑 Index SCAN (The Problem)
An Index Scan means the database engine has to READ EVERY SINGLE ROW in the table or index to find the data you need. This is inherently SLOW, especially on large tables, as it consumes massive I/O and CPU resources.
### ✅ Index SEEK (The Solution)
An Index Seek means the database engine JUMPS DIRECTLY TO THE DATA using the B-tree structure of an index. It is surgical, targeted, and FAST.
The goal of a DBA or Data Engineer is to ensure that queries, especially those with narrow WHERE clauses, are performing an Index Seek operation to FIX THE PROBLEM.
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### RESOURCES
📄 FULL GUIDE (How to analyze execution plans and create indexes):
Deep dive into SQL Index Seek and Index Scan—two crucial operations that determine database query performance and efficiency.
🎬 Watch the Short (Visualizing the difference):
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