An index scan means that SQL Server reads all rows in a table, and then returns only those rows that satisfy the search criteria. When an index scan is performed, all the rows in the leaf level of the index are scanned. This essentially means that all the rows of the index are examined instead of the table directly.

This is sometimes compared to a table scan, in which all the table data is read directly. However, there is usually little difference between an index scan and a table scan.

An index seeks, on the other hand, means that the Query Optimizer relies entirely on the index leaf data to locate rows satisfying the query condition. An index seek will be most beneficial in cases where a small percentage (less than 10 or 15 percentage) of rows will be returned.

An index seek will only affect the rows that satisfy a query condition and the pages that contain these qualifying rows; in terms of performance, this is highly beneficial when a table has a very large number of rows.