Transfer a 200 GB MDF file

file-transfersql-server-2005

Any ideas-quickest way, how to transfer a 200GB mdf file from one server to another?

Best Answer

Massimo recently asked a question that is somewhat similiar, albeit he was talking about a high-latency network. You don't specify what kind of network it is (gigabit Ethernet LAN, some kind of WAN, etc), but the answer I gave there might give you some ideas, as well.

In particular, the uftp utility that I suggested gave Massimo some pretty decent-looking results on his high-latency WAN. I haven't gotten a chance to test it yet over a gigabit Ethernet LAN but from its description it sounds like it would do a pretty good job of filling up a pipe.

It uses multicast IP to do the copying, so if you only end up needing to copy the file to multiple locations this tool would be a "win" immediately since the file only needs to traverse the network once to be received by an arbitrary number of destinations.