Fastest way to copy sql table - sql

Question

Im looking for the fastest way to copy a table and its contents on my sql server just simple copy of the table with the source and destination on the same server/database.
Currently with a stored procedure select * into sql statement it takes 6.75 minutes to copy over 4.7 million records. This is too slow.
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[CopyTable1]
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #mainTable VARCHAR(255),
#backupTable VARCHAR(255),
#sql VARCHAR(255),
#qry nvarchar(max);
SET NOCOUNT ON;
Set #mainTable='Table1'
Set #backupTable=#mainTable + '_Previous'
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(#backupTable) AND type in (N'U'))
BEGIN
SET #Sql = 'if exists (select * from sysobjects '
SET #Sql = #Sql + 'where id = object_id(N''[' + #backupTable + ']'') and '
SET #Sql = #Sql + 'OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N''IsUserTable'') = 1) ' + CHAR(13)
SET #Sql = #Sql + 'DROP TABLE [' + #backupTable + ']'
EXEC (#Sql)
END
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(#mainTable) AND type in (N'U'))
SET #Sql = 'SELECT * INTO dbo.[' + #backupTable + '] FROM dbo.[' + #mainTable + ']'
EXEC (#Sql)
END

Answer 1

If you are concerned about speed, it seems you have two alternatives; copying by block or the BCP/Bulk insert method.
Block Transfer
DECLARE
#CurrentRow bigint, #RowCount bigint, #CurrentBlock bigint
SET
#CurrentRow = 1
SELECT
#RowCount = Count(*)
FROM
oldtable
WITH (NOLOCK)
WHILE #CurrentRow < #RowCount
BEGIN
SET
#CurrentBlock = #CurrentRow + 1000000
INSERT INTO
newtable
(FIELDS,GO,HERE)
SELECT
FIELDS,GO,HERE
FROM (
SELECT
FIELDS,GO,HERE, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY SomeColumn) AS RowNum
FROM
oldtable
WITH (NOLOCK)
) AS MyDerivedTable
WHERE
MyDerivedTable.RowNum BETWEEN #startRow AND #endRow
SET
#CurrentRow = #CurrentBlock + 1
end
How to copy a huge table data into another table in SQL Server
BCP/Bulk Insert
SELECT
*
INTO
NewTable
FROM
OldTable
WHERE
1=2
BULK INSERT
NewTable
FROM
'c:\temp\OldTable.txt'
WITH (DATAFILETYPE = 'native')
What is the fastest way to copy data from one table to another
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/3507171/Transferring-Data-from-One-Table-to-Another.htm

Answer 2

You seem to want to copy a table that is a heap and has no indexes. That is the easiest case to get right. Just do a
insert into Target with (tablock) select * from Source
Make sure, that minimal logging for bulk operations is enabled (search for that term). Switch to the simple recovery model.
This will take up almost no log space because only allocations are logged with minimal logging.
This just scans the source in allocation order and append new bulk-allocated pages to the target.
Again, you have asked about the easiest case. Things get more complicated when indexes come into play.
Why not insert in batches? It's not necessary. Log space is not an issue. And because the target is not sorted (it is a heap) we don't need sort buffers.