Migrating SQL Server to Azure at Scale (Pass Summit 2020)

In November 2020, for the (until then) paid conference SQL Pass 2020, my colleague Avnish Rastogi and myself, presented the topic of how to migrate hundreds of SQL Server databases to Azure at scale.

We executed as Architects within of the Data Migration group at Microsoft, and worked in several engagements assessing multiple source databases and landing them into Azure. From the use cases, we compiled the steps, methodologies and services required to asses and migrate on-premises SQL Server instances to Azure Managed Instance. Leveraging PowerShell, we were able to automate and scale the migration of multiple databases.

Continue reading

Create External Tables on Azure Synapse Analytics

As we continue working with Azure Synapse Analytics on Peruvian voting data, as I have posted before, we are extending to creating an external table from the ground up, that points to existing data in the Data Lake Store.

This post will show how to create an external table that will point to a folder hierarchy that contains data in plain text (CSV format). All files inside the folder will be considered for this example.

Continue reading

Creating External Table AS (CETAS) in Parquet format on Azure Synapse Analytics

This is an extension of a prior post that shows how to create an external table in CSV format with Azure Synapse Analytics. Most of the steps equivalent, with the exception of the file format.

This post will show how to create an external table in Parquet format using Azure Synapse Analytics. The creation of an external table will place data inside a folder in the Data Lake Store, that has to be specified. The format can be plain text or parquet. Additional information can be found in the Microsoft documentation link.

Continue reading

Creating External Table AS (CETAS) on Azure Synapse Analytics

This is a continuation from a prior post that allows users leverage Peruvian voting data with Azure Synapse Serverless.

This post will show how to create an external table using Azure Synapse Analytics. The creation of an external table will place data inside a folder in the Data Lake Store, that has to be specified. The format can be plain text or parquet. Additional information can be found in the Microsoft documentation link.

Continue reading