Question

I have a few tables I want to move and I’ll eventually change the connections string but I want the table names and all fields to be the same and I also want to copy the values. In mysql I used toı do this with exporting as sql and executing command, now because the databases have prefixes like dbo, it makes copypasting more difficult and it makes me replace all prefixes and decide what prefix to use. I guess there might be a wizard somewhere.

Answer 1

Assuming that you need to move the database between networks, this is the quickest method that I’ve found:

1. Script out the create table statement.
2. Recreate the table on the remote server.
3. bcp the table into a text file.
4. Zip the text file with a good compression utility (I use 7zip, which is free).
5. Copy the file over.
6. Unzip it.
7. Load it in.

I admit that this is the most brute force method, used when you have big tables and small pipes. I use it, for instance, to move a 46 Gbyte database daily from New York to London. I find the compression ratio of 7zip much better than Winzip and even better than Lightspeed.

If your tables are on the same network and have equal access to fast drives, then you can dispense with the zip/unzip steps.