Fastest way to transfer Excel table data to SQL 2008R2

Question

Does anyone know the fastest way to get data from and Excel table (VBA Array) to a table on SQL 2008 without using an external utility (i.e. bcp)? Keep in mind my datas

Answer 1

There is no single fastest way, as it's dependent on a number of factors. Make sure the indexes in SQL are configured and optimized. Lots of indexes will kill insert/update performance since each insert will need to update the index. Make sure you only make one connection to the database, and do not open/close it during the operation. Run the update when the server is under minimal load. The only other method you haven't tried is to use a ADO Command object, and issue a direct INSERT statement. When using the 'AddNew' Method of the recordset object, be sure to issue only one 'UpdateBatch' Command at the end of the inserts. Short of that, the VBA can only run as fast as the SQL server accepting the inputs.

EDIT: Seems like you've tried everything. There is also what is known as 'Bulk-Logged' recovery mode in SQL Server, that reduces the overhead of writting so much to the transaction log. Might be something worth looking into. It can be troublesome since it requires fiddling with the database recovery model a bit, but it could be useful for you.