|SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers|
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Please read the Introductory Post before continue reading interview question and answers.
2) Common Questions Asked
Which TCP/IP port does the SQL Server run on? How can it be Changed?
SQL Server runs on port 1433. It can be changed from the Network Utility TCP/IP properties –> Port number, both on client and the server.
What are the Difference between Clustered and a Non-clustered Index?
A clustered index is a special type of index that reorders the way records in the table are physically stored. Therefore, the table can have only one clustered index. The leaf nodes of a clustered index contain the data pages.
A non-clustered index is a special type of index in which the logical order of the index does not match the physical stored order of the rows on disk. The leaf node of a non-clustered index does not consist of the data pages. Instead, the leaf nodes contain index rows. (Read more here)
What are the Different Index Configurations a Table can have?
A table can have one of the following index configurations:
- No indexes
- A clustered index
- A clustered index and many non-clustered indexes
- A non-clustered index
- Many non-clustered indexes
What are Different Types of Collation Sensitivity?
Case sensitivity – A and a, B and b, etc.
Accent sensitivity – a and á, o and ó, etc.
Kana Sensitivity – When Japanese Kana characters Hiragana and Katakana are treated differently, it is called Kana sensitive.
Width sensitivity – When a single-byte character (half-width) and the same character represented as a double-byte character (full-width) are treated differently, it is width sensitive. (Read more here)
What is OLTP (Online Transaction Processing)?
In OLTP –(online transaction processing) systems, relational database design uses the discipline of data modeling and generally follows the Codd rules of data normalization in order to ensure absolute data integrity. Using these rules, complex information is broken down into its most simple structures (a table) where all of the individual atomic level elements relate to each other and satisfy the normalization rules.
What’s the Difference between a Primary Key and a Unique Key?
Both primary key and unique key enforce uniqueness of the column on which they are defined. But by default, the primary key creates a clustered index on the column, whereas unique key creates a non-clustered index by default. Another major difference is that primary key doesn’t allow NULLs, but unique key allows one NULL only. (Read more here)
What is Difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE Commands?
Delete command removes the rows from a table on the basis of the condition that we provide with a WHERE clause. Truncate will actually remove all the rows from a table, and there will be no data in the table after we run the truncate command.
- TRUNCATE is faster and uses fewer system and transaction log resources than DELETE. (Read all the points below)
- TRUNCATE removes the data by deallocating the data pages used to store the table’s data, and only the page deallocations are recorded in the transaction log.
- TRUNCATE removes all the rows from a table, but the table structure, its columns, constraints, indexes and so on remains. The counter used by an identity for new rows is reset to the seed for the column.
- You cannot use TRUNCATE TABLE on a table referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint.
- Using T-SQL – TRUNCATE cannot be rolled back unless it is used in TRANSACTION. OR TRUNCATE can be rolled back when used with BEGIN … END TRANSACTION using T-SQL.
- TRUNCATE is a DDL Command.
- TRUNCATE resets the identity of the table.
- DELETE removes rows one at a time and records an entry in the transaction log for each deleted row.
- DELETE does not reset Identity property of the table.
- DELETE can be used with or without a WHERE clause
- DELETE activates Triggers if defined on table.
- DELETE can be rolled back.
- DELETE is DML Command.
- DELETE does not reset the identity of the table.
Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)