title: Equivalent to Oracle external tables in SQL Server
body: <p>Is there an equivalent to <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14215/et_concepts.htm" rel="nofollow">Oracle's External Table</a> in SQL Server ?  </p>
  
  <p>An external table is a table which is mapped to a flat-file in the filesystem.  </p>
  
  <p>It is very convenient since it allows you to read a flat-file as a table with standard SQL.</p>