Fragmentation on Replicated Tables

SET NOCOUNT ON;
 
/* Create publication db */
CREATE DATABASE sandbox_publisher;
GO
 
/* Create subscription db */
CREATE DATABASE sandbox_subscriber;
GO
 
/* Navigate to publisher db */
USE sandbox_publisher;
GO
 
/* Create a table to play with */
CREATE TABLE myTable
(
      myID UNIQUEIDENTIFIER
    , myColumn VARCHAR(2000)
 
    CONSTRAINT PK_myTable PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (myID)
);
/* NOTE: please never, ever use this
   type of clustered index in real-life.
   The whole purpose is to generate
   substantial fragmentation for 
   illustrative purposes. */
 
/* Populate it with some non-sequential
   records to generate fragmentation */
DECLARE @iteration INT;
SET @iteration = 0;
 
WHILE @iteration < 1000
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO myTable
    SELECT NewID(), REPLICATE('A', 2000);
 
    SET @iteration = @iteration + 1;
END
 
/* Now let's verify that we really did
   make a mess of our clustered index */
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
99.0157480314961             508
 
99% fragmented, not too shabby!  Your results 
may vary slightly, based on the guid values
generated by NewID().
*/
 
/* Now, let's set up replication */
USE sandbox_publisher;
GO
 
/* Enable publication */
EXECUTE SP_REPLICATIONDBOPTION
      @dbname = N'sandbox_publisher'
    , @optname = N'publish'
    , @VALUE = N'true';
GO
 
/* Create our publication */
EXECUTE SP_ADDPUBLICATION
      @publication = N'myTestPublication' 
    , @sync_method = N'concurrent'
    , @description = N'Test Publication'
    , @status = N'active'
    , @independent_agent = N'true'
    , @immediate_sync = N'true'
    , @retention = 0
GO
 
/* Create our snapshot agent */
EXECUTE SP_ADDPUBLICATION_SNAPSHOT
      @publication = N'myTestPublication'
    , @frequency_type = 1;
 
/* Add our table as an article */
EXECUTE SP_ADDARTICLE
      @publication = N'myTestPublication'
    , @article = N'myTable'
    , @source_owner = N'dbo'
    , @source_object = N'myTable'
    , @type = N'logbased'
    , @destination_table = N'myTable'
    , @destination_owner = N'dbo'
    , @ins_cmd = N'CALL sp_MSins_dbomyTable'
    , @del_cmd = N'CALL sp_MSdel_dbomyTable'
    , @upd_cmd = N'MCALL sp_MSupd_dbomyTable';
GO
 
/* Generate an initial snapshot */
EXECUTE sp_startpublication_snapshot
      @publication = N'myTestPublication';
 
/* Create our subscription */
EXECUTE SP_ADDSUBSCRIPTION 
      @publication = N'myTestPublication'
    , @subscriber = N'YourServerName'
    , @destination_db = N'sandbox_subscriber';
 
/* At this point, basic transactional replication 
   should be configured.  You should now have a 
   copy of myTable in your subscription database. */
 
USE sandbox_subscriber;
GO
 
/* Let's take a look at fragmentation on the 
   subscription database. */
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
0.29940119760479             334
 
Less than 1% fragmented!  Why is this?  During
initialization, a copy of the schema and data
is sent to the subscriber.  The data is sorted
before insertion into the destination table.
*/
 
USE sandbox_publisher;
GO
 
/* Let's insert another 1000 records and see
   what happens... */
DECLARE @iteration INT;
SET @iteration = 0;
 
WHILE @iteration < 1000
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO sandbox_publisher.dbo.myTable
    SELECT NewID(), REPLICATE('A', 2000);
 
    SET @iteration = @iteration + 1;
END
 
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
98.6193293885602             1014
 
The publisher is still very fragmented 
(as expected) */
 
USE sandbox_subscriber;
GO
 
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
95.4034729315628             979
 
But now the subscriber is fragmented too!  This
is because each individual transaction is 
replicated, so out-of-order inserts affect
both the publishing and the subcribing 
databases equally.
*/
 
/* Finally, let's rebuild our index on the 
   publisher and see what happens */
USE sandbox_publisher;
GO
 
ALTER INDEX PK_myTable ON myTable Rebuild;
 
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
0                            667
 
0% fragmentation in the publishing table!  
What about our subscribing table?
*/
 
USE sandbox_subscriber;
GO
 
SELECT avg_fragmentation_in_percent
    , page_count
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats 
(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'MyTable'), NULL , NULL, N'Limited') 
OPTION (MaxDop 1);
 
/* Results:
 
avg_fragmentation_in_percent page_count
---------------------------- --------------------
95.4034729315628             979
 
As you can see, the subcribing table was
completely unaffected by the defrag
activities on the publisher.
*/