Please visit the Internals Viewer for SQL Server project - http://InternalsViewer.codeplex.com for more SQL Server internals functionalityProject DescriptionThis is add-in for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to display database allocation information.
It builds on allocation information displayed by SQL Internals Viewer to show how data is allocated in SQL Server files.
The add-in also displays information on space usage, table sizes and total proportion used.
The add-in works with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for both SQL Server 2008 (RTM) and SQL Server 2005.
InstructionsAfter the add-in has been installed click
View - Show Allocation Info.
(Note: There's a problem at the moment where the window doesn't appear tabbed to start with. To fix this drag the window and drop it on the centre icon that pops up. This will be fixed in a future version).
What is this showing?The allocation add-in displays a map that shows how different database object are physically allocated over a database file.
SQL Server stored data in 8KB units called
pages. Pages are grouped into
extents, which are 8 contiguous pages. SQL Server manages allocation at both a page and extent level.
In the add-in allocation map for the Small, Medium, and Large view each block is a page.
For more information on pages and extents see:
Development ResourcesDevelopment ToolsSSMS Add-in development