c# - Speed up update of 185k rows in SQL Server 2008?

Question

I have a binary file with about 185k rows in it. C# parses file in seconds. What would be the best way to update MSSQL table with that data?

What I've tried:

1. Easiest way - read binary row, parse, update table. The whole process takes around 2 days to update all the data.
2. Combine 200 update queries and send them at once to the MSSQL. In this case, update takes 8 to 10 hrs.
3. Combine 500+ queries into single one. Works faster, but drops timeout exceptions time to time, so some updates are not going through.

Any advice on how to speed up the update process?

Answer 1

Not sure you really want to do it via C#: probably want to use BULK INSERT and give it a file with your data properly formatted.