Import Azure Table Data Using Azure Data Factory

Microsoft Azure Data Factory (ADF)) is a completely managed, serverless data integration service. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, ADF enables immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Azure Table data within data flows. This article outlines the process of connecting to Azure Table through Connect Cloud and accessing Azure Table data within ADF.

CData Connect Cloud offers a cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Azure Table, granting you the ability to access live data from Azure Table data within Azure Data Factory without the need for data replication to a natively supported database. Equipped with optimized data processing capabilities by default, CData Connect Cloud seamlessly channels all supported SQL operations, including filters and JOINs, directly to Azure Table. This harnesses server-side processing to expedite the retrieval of the desired Azure Table data.

Configure Azure Table Connectivity for ADF

Connectivity to Azure Table from Azure Data Factory is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Azure Table data from Azure Data Factory, we start by creating and configuring a Azure Table connection.

CData Connect Cloud uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Azure Table" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Azure Table.

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Azure Table Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Azure Table data from Azure Data Factory.

Access Live Azure Table Data in Azure Data Factory

To establish a connection from Azure Data Factory to the CData Connect Cloud Virtual SQL Server API, follow these steps.

1. Login to Azure Data Factory.
2. If you have not yet created a Data Factory, Click New -> Dataset.
3. In the search bar, enter SQL Server and select it when it appears. On the following screen, enter a name for the server. In the Linked service field, select New.
4. Enter the connection settings.
   • Name - enter a name of your choice.
   • Server name - enter the Virtual SQL Server endpoint and port separated by a comma: tds.cdata.com,14333
   • Database name - enter the Connection Name of the CData Connect Cloud data source you want to connect to (for example, AzureTables1).
   • User Name - enter your CData Connect Cloud username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect Cloud interface. For example, [email protected].
   • Password - select Password (not Azure Key Vault) and enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
   • Click Create.
5. In Set properties, set the Name, choose the Linked service we just created, select a Table name from those available, and Import schema from connection/store. Click OK.
6. After creating the linked service, the following screen should appear:
7. Click preview data to see the imported Azure Table table.
You can now use this dataset when creating data flows in Azure Data Factory.

Get CData Connect Cloud

To get live data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect Cloud today!