SQL Server SELECT INTO and Blocking With Temp Tables

Question

So, recently a DBA is trying to tell us that we cannot use the syntax of

SELECT X, Y, Z INTO #MyTable FROM YourTable 

To create temporary tables in our environment, because that syntax causes a lock on TempDB for the duration of the stored procedure executing. Now, I've found a number of things that detail how temporary tables work, scope of execution, cleanup and the like. But for the life of me, I don't see anything about blocking because of their use.

We are trying to find proof that we shouldn't have to go through and do CREATE TABLE #MyTable... for all of our temporary tables, but neither side can find proof. I'm looking for any insight SO people have.

Additional Information

Currently working with SQL Server 2005, and soon to be SQL Server 2008 (Enterprise editions)

Answer 1

That advice has been floating around for a long time:

Bottlenecks in SQL Server 6.5

Many people use a SELECT...INTO query to create a temporary table, something like this:

SELECT * INTO #TempTable FROM SourceTable

While this works, it creates locks against the tempdb database for the duration of the SELECT statement (quite a while if you are trawling through a lot of data in the source table, and longer still if the SELECT...INTO is at the start of a longer-running explicit transaction) While the lock is in place, no other user can create temporary tables. The actual location of the bottleneck is a lock on tempdb system tables. In later versions of SQL Server, the locking model has changed and the problem is avoided.

Fortunately, it was only a problem for SQL 6.5. It was fixed in 7.0 and later.

Answer 2

This will probably float around for a long time, feeding the pockets of various 'consultants'. Like all myths, it has a kernel of truth and a lot of BS.

The truth: SQL 2000 and previous versions had known contention issues around the allocation of extents in tempdb. The contention was true in fact in all databases, but more visible in tempdb due to some heavy tempdb usage. It is documented in KB328551:

When the tempdb database is heavily used, SQL Server may experience contention when it tries to allocate pages.

From the sysprocesses system table output, the waitresource may show up as "2:1:1" (PFS Page) or "2:1:3" (SGAM Page). Depending on the degree of contention, this may also lead to SQL Server appearing unresponsive for short periods.

These operations heavily use tempdb:
Repeated create and drop of temporary tables (local or global).
Table variables that use tempdb for storage purposes.
Work tables associated with CURSORS.
Work tables associated with an ORDER BY clause.
Work tables associated with an GROUP BY clause.
Work files associated with HASH PLANS.

Heavy and significant use of these activities may lead to the contention problems.

A trace flag -T1118 was added in SQL Server 2000 SP3 that was forcing SQL to use a round-robin algorithm for mixed pages allocations. This new algorithm, when correlated with the practice of deploying tempdb on top of a set of equal size files, one for each CPU, would alleviate the contention. The trace flag is still present in SQL 2005/2008, although its far less likely to be needed.

Everything else about this myth is pretty much BS.

• does use of #temp tables cause blocking? No. At worst it increases contention under load in SQL 2000 and earlier, but that is a far cry from saying that it blocks anything. You would have to measure first and see that this is the case, and if so deploy the remediation measures (allocate one tempdb file per CPU, make them equal size, turn on -T1118)..
• Does select ... into #temp block something for the duration of the select? Not really.
• Does select ... into #temp block something for the duration of the stored procedure containing the select? Hell no. Just reading that claim and I burst into laugh.

For more details, there is this article: Misconceptions around TF1118.