title: Multiple Update Statements / Transient Tables / Avoiding Locking
body: <p>I’m looking for some guidance as to the best approach for processing data within a database using SQL Server. </p>
  
  <p>Basically I have a series of transient tables which are loaded with data and then series of update statements are executed against them. Multiple instances of these series of update statements run against the same table, but each instance only updates row with a specific identifier (lineage). 
  I’m looking to be able to confidently avoid any locking issues / deadlocks when instances are run concurrently. </p>
  
  <p>The two thought I had on this are as follows:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>All updates statements contain the hint rowlock, so that page locks will not occur which cover different lineages.</li>
  <li>Change the isolation level - dirty reads would never actually occur.
  Can anybody shed any light on which may be the best approach to this situation?</li>
  </ol>