>That is what I thought. That because for the most part you have an index on this or that field (like PK field), not all but the desired record will be downloaded to the local drive. But that's not what the guy said. He meant "in every case of SQL Select" all record will be downloaded. Then the Rushmore will be used to select the desired record from the local drive. I wish there were some "test" to determine if he was right or not.

I don't see any reason why all records must be downloaded. Since there is a shared directory, VFP treats the data just like data on a local drive. The network redirector makes things transparent to VFP or other applications that access data over the network (making it look to applications as if they were working with local data).

As to tests, speed tests can give you some strong indication. For example, build a table with a million records, check how long it takes to copy over the network, and how long your query for a single record takes - with, and without, an index. But beware of buffering, which may falsify results. 'Tis best to reset the machine after each phase of the test!