SQL Batched Delete

Question

I have a table in SQL Server 2005 which has approx 4 billion rows in it. I need to delete approximately 2 billion of these rows. If I try and do it in a single transaction, th

Answer 1

Well, if you were using SQL Server Partitioning, say based on the date column, you would have possibly switched out the partitions that are no longer required. A consideration for a future implementation perhaps.

I think the best option may be as you say, to delete the data in smaller batches, rather than in one hit, so as to avoid any potential blocking issues.

You could also consider the following method:

1. Copy the data to keep into a temporary table
2. Truncate the original table to purge all data
3. Move everything from the temporary table back into the original table

Your indexes would also be rebuilt as the data was added back to the original table.