I must admit that the largest file I've done is a 261 MB text file what was delimited AND fixed-width. Yes...delimited and fixed-width in the same file. :w00t:

The way I did it was by using a BULK INSERT and a format file.

BULK INSERT table_name

FROM 'D:\data_file.txt'

WITH (DATAFILETYPE = 'CHAR',

FIRSTROW = 2,

FORMATFILE = 'D:\format_file.xml',

MAXERRORS = 0);

It does take some work to set up the format file at first, but then it's repeatable. The throughput is simply amazing. If you have any character data that's too long for the fields you define in your incoming data table, the error is much nicer than the ever-annoying "string or binary data would be truncated" error that doesn't give you a field or line or anything to go on. When using the BULK INSERT, it tells you right where the problem is.

The first thing I would do is to get the data out of the Excel if possible. Try getting it to a flat-file and working with it from there. This will take the Excel driver out of the equation.

HTH