http://localhost:1313/tags/statistics/ Recent content in Statistics on SQLSurfer Hugo en-us Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:00:20 -0500 http://localhost:1313/posts/azure-sql-database-index-and-statistic-management/ Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:00:20 -0500 http://localhost:1313/posts/azure-sql-database-index-and-statistic-management/ <h2 id="dba-tasks-in-azure-db">DBA Tasks in Azure DB</h2> <p>It was a big surprise to me when I learned that Azure SQL Database doesn&rsquo;t update statistics or indexes automatically. The option to automatically update statistics exists (e.g., ALTER DATABASE [WideWorldImporters] SET AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS ON), and is on by default, but it does not give the same control as updating them manually with the &lsquo;UPDATE STATISTICS&rsquo; command. When Azure DB was first pitched to us, on an internal project, one of the big selling points was &ldquo;no maintenance required&rdquo;. This wasn&rsquo;t a statement from Microsoft or even from the documentation. It was clearly a marketing talking-point that leaked into the technical discussions. It&rsquo;s partially true. Some things are automatic, but there are a few things you still need to maintain or at least monitor yourself. The big shocker, as you already know from the first sentence above, is that indexes aren&rsquo;t automatically rebuilt for you and statistics aren&rsquo;t maintained beyond the database configuration item.</p>