title: NVarchar storage vs Varchar storage on SQL Server
body: <p>I have just been informed by a colleague that if you assign a length to a VARCHAR field in the database, eg VARCHAR(1000), then the database will force the database to hold 1000 bytes of space for each row, whether or not it is needed.</p>
  
  <p>However he claims that an NVARCHAR(1000) field will simply hold the number of bytes required.</p>
  
  <p>I have researched this as best I can, both here and around the web, but I cannot find anything to support this, nor does the SQL Server Help documentation mention this anywhere that I can find.</p>