>>The max for VARCHAR you can use is 8000. Anything over can only be VARCHAR(max).
>
>Then, this answers the concern that this is what I have to use. As I have record containing much more than that in a log.

If the distribution of length is poisson with only a select few records falling above 8000 you could try splitting such logs into varchar(8000) plus varchar(max) overflow field for those few records to help with your speed problem - perhaps even by adding a flag on need for overflow. Hard to say if one of the arrows from that pouch could help not knowing aforementioned length distribution. Yes, ugly and band aid approach, but sometimes crutches help speed.