Indexes with Included Columns on SQL Server

I came across a question on Stack Overflow in which an individual asked what using INCLUDE with your INDEX does.

The basic principle is to index columns that are being filtered, for which in the example below would be PostalCode. The other columns that are being selected are ones that should be included (AddressLine1, AddressLine2, City, StateProvinceID). These columns are added to the leaf level and can therefore cover more queries.

SELECT AddressLine1, AddressLine2, City, StateProvinceID, PostalCode
FROM Person.Address
WHERE PostalCode BETWEEN N'98000' and N'99999';

Even though I have adapted the use of INCLUDE, I ran a short test to see if there would be any performance difference.

The Query

SELECT id1, id2, MAX(desc1), COUNT(id1), MAX(col1) FROM table1
WITH (INDEX(index1))
WHERE date1 >= DATEADD(mm, -6, GETDATE())
GROUP BY id1, id2

Index 1

CREATE INDEX [index1]
ON [table1] ([date1], [id1], [id2])

Index 2

CREATE INDEX [index2]
ON [table1] ([date1])
INCLUDE ([id1], [id2])

Results

The table was about 28 GB and both indexes added roughly 6 GB (20% of table size). Additionally, both indexes scanned roughly 70% of the table, and execution time between using INCLUDE and not using it were negligible.

References: Index with Included Columns