rrn 62873 (8/15/2012)
Thank you for the tips.Specifying the index as unique did shave off time in the overall processing from what I had tested previously.
But creating the index after the insert adds time to the overall process (both for the "SELECT INTO" and the "CREATE TABLE then INSERT INTO" methods).
Well it was worth a try, but it does depend upon how much performance your tempdb is configured for.
You might even experiment with a permanent staging table, then create the index using SORT_IN_TEMPDB option. Again, any possible advantage depends upon how your disks are set up and how the database is configured.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.