If I have a table with an NVARCHAR(MAX)
column and I drop it, the standard way to reclaim the space it used is to either:
- Rebuild the clustered index or
- Run
DBCC CLEANTABLE
If I didn't perform either of these, the column still remains (visible
via sys.system_internals_partition_columns
) in the physical structure of the table, and did a full backup & restore of the database, would the restored copy still have dropped column in its physical structure and take up the same amount of space as before I had dropped the column?
For my own use case I am looking at SQL Server 2012, but I presume this functions the same across all relatively modern versions. I am aware this is easy to test, but I am hoping someone has more background knowlegde on this as I haven't been able to find much myself.
References: