FastTrack Data Warehouse -E startup parameter We are running a data warehouse based on the Fast Track architecture. One of the recommendations with Fast Track is to enable the -E parameter at SQL Server startup (increases the number of extents that are allocated for each file in a filegroup).

I've just discovered that our instance does not have this option enabled. If I enable it now, how can I ensure that existing database files are created with the additional extents?
The option only takes effect during bulk loads to tables, so you would need to re-load your data which seems a bit pointless, or accept it's only relevant for new data loads.  The KB Article is fairly clear:


  The -E option must be used before the original data load because it does not affect existing data, only new allocations.


I would also say this is one of those 'Formula 1' tuning options that I would not enable unless I had already proved it had a sufficiently positive effect using a representative test of my actual business data and did not have a negative impact on other key workloads.  The recommendation also comes with a caveat:


  ...data warehouse applications that have a limited number of users running index or data scans.


Is this you?

NB The KB Article also ends with a strongly worded warning:


  Because the -E option may bring performance benefits only under the specific circumstances described earlier, we do not recommend that you use this option on a regular basis. Running SQL Server with the -E option set on may decrease the performance of multiuser workloads with frequent allocations because of increased CPU consumption.