Indexes: Normal tables vs memory optimized

Question

If two tables have the same schema but one is "normal" and the other is memory optimized, if I research on how indexes should be for the "normal", can I do a direct extrapolation for the memory optimized table?

Couldn't find anything conclusive so I really appreciate links, topics and so on.

Answer 1

Since the architecture of these two types of tables and indexes is completely different, I would say the answer would be "no". If the table needs to be optimized for point lookups, you should use a HASH index, but that could cause you problems, because if the key is comprised of multiple columns - and you only supply the leading column - you'll get a table scan instead of a seek. In general, it's best to use RANGE indexes, and then only when you can prove you need a HASH index, to possibly deploy that.

Another area is columnstore indexes, which are radically different between the two table types. See my post here: Clustered columnstore: on-disk vs. in-mem.

There is a lot to consider before deploying the In-Memory OLTP feature. I have blogged almost exclusively on this topic for the last two years. I strongly advise you to read my posts....