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Jan 08, 2008 at 09:39 AM

DB Index - Guid Vs Numeric - which is better for performance?

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Hi,

I was trying to find which type of primary key or index (GUID Vs Numeric Key) would perform better in case of large data volumes of billions of records.

Intutively I felt that Numeric index performance would be better but I do not find any conclusive evidence or suggestions.

Typically GUIDs would serve the purpose of uniqueness but rarely would any application use them to search for a record, the search would be performed using other fields and then be read accordingly.

I tried to check with a test table and a report program but the readings are too close and varying, also simulating a real life DB with billions of records is difficult.

If uniqueness is enforced would numeric keys result in better DB performance?

Any suggestions?

Thanks and regards,

Jayanand