SQL Server Execution Plans – Arrow Size

When teaching people about how to use SQL Server Execution Plans, one thing that is commonly overlooked is the size of the arrows between different operators in the plan.  How fat the arrow is, is an indication of how many rows are being moved from one operator to the next.  Larger arrows move more data (rows), and narrow arrows move less data (rows).

What that equates to is speed. Generally it is faster to move less data than more data, and anywhere that you see fat arrows in your execution plan is an indication of areas that could be slow.

Is there a way you could better filter your data to reduce the width of the arrows in your execution plan?

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