Compress SQL Server 2005 query results?

Question

Is it possible to reduce network load by compressing sql query results in a transparent way for the client? DB engine : SQL Server 2005

Answer 1

No. SQL workload is rarely driven by result size. Unless is an ETL job or data shipping, there is never a reason to return a large result to start with. For those particular scenarios that need large amounts of data shipped to the client, there are better solutions than T-SQL queries (log shipping, service broker, replication).

It is possible to reduce workload dramatically though by improving data model, schema design and the access queries.

Answer 2

TDS (Tabular Data Stream) compression is something that people have asked Microsoft to implement..but they have not done so yet.

You have a couple options that I am aware of:

1. Use a third party tool like SQLNitro .
2. Move to Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 where they have made various TCP stack improvements, as outlined here: Appendix A: A Closer Look - Examining the Enhancements in Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 That Enable Faster Performance