Microsoft SQL Server provides DBAs and Developers with several index related dynamic management views and functions, which they can use to maintain, modify, tune and identify missing indexes. Some of these dynamic management views (DMVs) and functions (DMFs) you might use are listed as follow:

• sys.dm_db_index_operational_stats — Returns information about low level input/output (I/O) operations, locking and latching contention, and access methods.
• sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats — Returns an index operations count, identifying operations performed and the last time each operation was performed.
• sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats — Returns information about table and index size and fragmentation, including both in-row and LOB data.
• sys.dm_db_missing_index_details — Returns detailed information about missing indexes, including the table, columns used in equality operations, columns used in inequality operations, and columns used in include operations.
• sys.dm_db_missing_index_group_stats — Returns information about groups of missing indexes, which SQL Server updates with each query execution (not based on query compilation or recompilation).
• sys.dm_db_missing_index_groups — Returns information about missing indexes contained in a missing index group.

Checkout the part-1 of my three part article series on index-related dynamic management views and function here, in which I covered the following two index-related dynamic management view and function: sys.dm_db_index_operational_stats (DMF) and sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats (DMV).

This article is published on SSWUG.org.