New SQL Server 2016 Online Alter column

Over the few months i have been playing with SQL Server 2016 new features. Microsoft SQL Server 2016 introduced new alter column with ONLINE option. Let’s explore this.

Create a table and insert data

CREATE TABLE dbo.test_online (column_1 INT ) ;
GO
INSERT INTO dbo.test_online(column_1) values(10)
GO

Find what page has been allocated for the above operation. I have used un documented function fn_PhysLocCracker to get the information

SELECT fnph.page_id FROM dbo.test_online
 OUTER APPLY sys.fn_PhysLocCracker(%%PhysLoc%%) AS fnph;

Perform alter column without online option

ALTER TABLE dbo.test_online
ALTER COLUMN column_1 DECIMAL (5, 2)
--WITH (ONLINE = ON);
GO

Verify what page has been allocated for the above alter column

You can see in the above screenshot that same page has been allocated for alter command.
Now, let’s Perform alter column with online option. Repeat the above steps

ALTER TABLE dbo.test_online 
 ALTER COLUMN column_1 DECIMAL (5, 2) 
 WITH (ONLINE = ON); 
GO

Now verify the allocated page for the above alter command

You can see in the above screenshot that the new page has been allocated for alter column statement without changing the old page id. This means leaving the old page available during the operation.

Conclusion: Online operation on alter column is really useful feature for DBA’s to perform the alter table with minimal downtime during the operation especially with table with large data.

Hope you like the post!

Happy Learning!

Cheers

Ramasankar Molleti

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Published by Ramasankar

Hi. I’m Ramasankar Molleti. I’m a passionate IT professional with over 14 years of experience on providing solutions for customers who are looking on cloud computing, Database Migration, Development, and Big Data. I love learning new technologies and share my knowledge to community. I am currently working as Sr Cloud Architect with focus on Cloud Infrastructure, Big Data. I work with developers to architect, build, and manage cloud infrastructure, and services. I have deeep knowledge and experience on working with various database platforms such as MS SQL Server, PostgeSQL, Oracle, MongoDB, Redshift, Dyanamodb, Amazon Aurora. I worked as Database Engineer, Database Administrator, BI Developer and successfully transit myself into Cloud Architect with focus on Cloud infranstructure and Big Data. I live in USA and put my thoughts down on this blog. If you want to get in touch with me, contact me on my Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramasankar-molleti-23b13218/ My Certifications: Amazon: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional certificate AWS Certified Big Data – Specialty AWS Certified Security – Specialty certificate AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty certificate AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Microsoft: Microsoft® Certified Solutions Associate: SQL Server 2012/2014 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft® Certified IT Professional: Database Administrator 2008 Microsoft® Certified Technology Specialist: SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance View more posts