Connect to Redis Data as an External Source in Dremio

The CData JDBC Driver for Redis implements JDBC Standards and allows various applications, including Dremio, to work with live Redis data. Dremio is a data lakehouse platform designed to empower self-service, interactive analytics on the data lake. With the CData JDBC driver, you can include live Redis data as a part of your enterprise data lake. This article describes how to connect to Redis data from Dremio as an External Source.

The CData JDBC Driver enables high-speed access to live Redis data in Dremio. Once you install the driver, authenticate with Redis and gain immediate access to Redis data within your data lake. By surfacing Redis data using native data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, the CData JDBC Driver grants seamless access to Redis data.

Prerequisites

This article assumes you are utilizing Docker to run Dremio. You can create a Docker container with the Dremio service using a command similar to the follow:

docker run -d --name dremio -p 9047:9047 -p 31010:31010 dremio/dremio-oss

Where dremio is the name of the container, 9047 is the container's port for the Dremio web interface and 31010 is the port that maps to the Dremio query service. dremio/dremio-oss specifies the image to use.

Build the ARP Connector

To use the CData JDBC Driver in Dremio, you need to build an Advanced Relation Pushdown (ARP) Connector. You can view the source code for the Connector on GitHub or download the ZIP file (GitHub.com) directly. Once you copy or extract the files, run the following command from the root directory of the connector (the directory containing the pom.xml file) to build the connector.

mvn clean install

NOTE: The CData ARP Connectors are build to be compiled with Java 11. Be sure to install Java 11 and use the correct version. You can update your Java version using a command similar to the following:

sudo update-alternatives --config java

Once the JAR file for the connector is built (in the target directory), you are ready to copy the ARP connector and JDBC Driver to your Dremio instance.

Installing the Connector and JDBC Driver

Install the ARP Connector to %DREMIO_HOME%/jars/ and the JDBC Driver for Redis to %DREMIO_HOME%/jars/3rdparty. You can use commands similar to the following:

ARP Connector

docker cp PATH\TO\dremio-redis-plugin-{DREMIO_VERSION}.jar dremio_image_name:/opt/dremio/jars/

JDBC Driver for Redis

docker cp PATH\TO\cdata.jdbc.redis.jar dremio_image_name:/opt/dremio/jars/3rdparty/

Connecting to Redis

Redis will now appear as an External Source option in Dremio. The ARP Connector built uses a JDBC URL to connect to Redis data. The JDBC Driver has a built-in connection string designer that you can use (see below).

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Redis JDBC Driver. Double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.redis.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Set the following connection properties to connect to a Redis instance:

• Server: Set this to the name or address of the server your Redis instance is running on. You can specify the port in Port.
• Password: Set this to the password used to authenticate with a password-protected Redis instance , using the Redis AUTH command.

Set UseSSL to negotiate SSL/TLS encryption when you connect.

NOTE: To use the JDBC Driver in Dremio, you will need a license (full or trial) and a Runtime Key (RTK). For more information on obtaining this license (or a trial), contact our sales team.

Add the Runtime Key (RTK) to the JDBC URL. You will end up with a JDBC URL similar to the following:

jdbc:redis:RTK=5246...;Server=127.0.0.1;Port=6379;Password=myPassword;

Access Redis as an External Source

To add Redis as an External Source, click to add a new source and select Redis. Copy the JDBC URL and paste it into the New Redis Source wizard.

Save the connection and you are ready to query live Redis data in Dremio, easily incorporating Redis data into your data lake.

More Information & Free Trial

Using the CData JDBC Driver for Redis in Dremio, you can incorporate live Redis data into your data lake. Check out our CData JDBC Driver for Redis page for more information about connecting to Redis. Download a free, 30 day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for Redis and get started today.