Execution Plan

The first time SQL Server executes a stored procedure a particular stored procedure in a running session, it generates what is known as an execution plan. The execution plan basically represents the strategy SQL Server is using to search for and retrieve data. This execution plan is then cached and used henceforth as long as the stored procedure does not change.

The Show Execution Plan and Display Estimated Execution Plan show the true impact of your query. Note, if you have used the method described above where you add a starting query time and ending query time, you may not see the true processing impact as SQL Server may take longer to do the job in calendar time but not in processing time.