Minimal Logging into Empty Clustered Indexes

Paul White explains how to perform minimal logging when using the INSERT..SELECT pattern to insert into an empty table with a clustered index:

The summary top row suggests that all inserts to an empty clustered index will be minimally logged as long as TABLOCK and ORDER hints are specified. The TABLOCK hint is required to enable the RowSetBulk facility as used for heap table bulk loads. An ORDER hint is required to ensure rows arrive at the Clustered Index Insert plan operator in target index key order. Without this guarantee, SQL Server might add index rows that are not sorted correctly, which would not be good.

Unlike other bulk loading methods, it is not possible to specify the required ORDER hint on an INSERT...SELECT statement. This hint is not the same as using an ORDER BY clause on the INSERT...SELECT statement. An ORDER BY clause on an INSERTonly guarantees the way any identity values are assigned, not row insert order.

Read on to see what you can do.