Restore SQL Server DB without transaction log

Question

Given a SQL Server 2008 .bak file, is there a way to restore the data file only from the .bak file, without t

Answer 1

This is really a question for the ServerFault or DBA sites, but the short answer is no, you can only restore the full .bak file (leaving aside 'exotic' scenarios such as filegroup or piecemeal restores). You don't say what "huge" means, but disk space is cheap; if adding more really isn't an option then you need to find an alternative way of getting the data from your external source.