Storage Solutions and SQL Object Creation

1. Storage Solutions and SQL Object Creation

In this video, we'll learn about Fabric's storage solutions like OneLake, Lakehouse, and Warehouse, learn how to configure connections, and understand how to create Stored Procedures and Views in the Lakehouse.

2. Recap: OneLake, Lakehouse, and Warehouse

Let's quickly recap some concepts covered in the Introduction to Fabric course. OneLake in Microsoft Fabric is a unified storage solution, integrated automatically with every tenant to create a single, logical data lake. It eliminates the need of data duplication and supports formats like Delta Parquet, CSV, and JSON. The Lakehouse is designed to handle both structured and unstructured data, offering various transformation methods like Apache Spark Notebooks, Dataflows (Gen2), and Data Pipelines. However, its SQL endpoint is read-only. On the other hand, Warehouse is optimized for structured data, supporting full read and write operations through its SQL endpoint, making it versatile for SQL-based tasks.

3. Connectors in Microsoft Fabric

Now that we’ve covered storage solutions in Fabric, let’s explore connectors. Connectors act as bridges, linking Fabric to external data sources, whether cloud-based or on-premises. Connectors in Fabric simply provide a link, helping tools like Pipelines, Dataflows, and Shortcuts to reference the data source. However, to actually pull in and surface the data for use, those other tools will be required. Once created, connectors are centrally managed and can be reused across multiple Fabric items, making them efficient and shareable, without needing to create multiple versions for the same data source. The functionality of connectors is similar to Linked Services in Azure Data Factory and Synapse.

4. Creating Stored Procedures in Microsoft Fabric

Let's now take a look at stored procedures. Stored procedures are SQL-based objects that allow you to execute predefined tasks, such as inserting or updating data. They can be easily created within Fabric's Lakehouse or Data Warehouse, offering a powerful way to manage and automate database operations. After creating a stored procedure, it can be seamlessly integrated into your Data Pipelines using the Stored Procedure activity. We'll soon get hands-on and create a stored procedure in an upcoming exercise!

5. Creating Views in Microsoft Fabric

Finally, let's take a moment to understand views. Views are saved SQL queries that create virtual tables, allowing you to retrieve and manipulate data without running the same query repeatedly. You can create these views using familiar T-SQL commands or take advantage of the "Save as View" option in the UI, which automates this process without needing extra code. Views can be created in both Lakehouse and Warehouse within Fabric, providing flexibility depending on your data needs. Additionally, views help boost query performance by caching frequently accessed data.

6. Let's practice!

You've got the knowledge, now let's dive into some hands-on practice.

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