Shrink & reindex, and elastic pool usage
Hi, I have recently reduced a PROD data table by several million rows but the Allocated table size has remained largely unchanged, as the reduction in the Used portion has just shifted to an increase in the Unused portion and the elastic pool usage has also remained unchanged.
I'm assuming that if I run an app copy of PROD into DEV then OS will try to copy over the entire elastic pool size rather than differentiating between what is Used and Unused and only copying over the Used portion.
A shrink and reindex has been suggested as a solution to reduce the Unused portions but I have been advised that running a shrink is a risky move as it can cause performance issues. I therefore wanted to check whether a shrink and reindex in the PROD environment, at least during monthly maintenance, is widely used and generally benefits the environment rather than being detrimental to it?