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My test environment is very different from my production environment.  Will using the free Hotsos SQL Test Harness really work if the environments aren't the same?

See http://support.hotsos.com/default.asp?hotsos.11.259.1 for a similar question.

The short answer is "yes"...it works if your test and production environments are different.  The key is that what you are testing is comparative performance of several alternatives.  The best performing alternative in your test environment should also be the best in your production environment. 

The perfect situation is that your test environment mimics your production environment, but when that is not the case, you need a way to pick the best alternative and the test harness can help you do that.

The one thing I'd add is that, while you don't need for your DATA in your test system to exactly mirror the data in your production system, you do want your STATS in your test system to exactly mirror the stats in your production system.

You want your execution plans in test to be identical to the execution plans you'll generate on your production system, and copying your stats from your production system over to your test system gets you a giant step closer to doing this.