load data from ADLS to Unity Catalog tables using Azure Data Factory?

Question

What is the best way to load data from ADLS to Unity Catalog tables using Azure Data Factory?

Answer 1

Hello chandrasekhar munagala,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

Problem

I understand that you would like to be certain on best practices to load data from Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2) into Unity Catalog tables using Azure Data Factory (ADF).

Solution

The followings are the best practice steps:

1. Configure Unity Catalog
   1. Ensure that your administrator has set up Unity Catalog and provided access to a Unity Catalog volume or an external location for accessing source files in ADLS Gen2.
   2. You will need the READ VOLUME privilege for accessing volumes or the READ FILES privilege for accessing external locations.
   3. Obtain the path to your source data, which could be a cloud object storage URL or a volume path.
2. Use the COPY INTO Command The COPY INTO command in Databricks SQL allows you to load data into Unity Catalog tables. An example command is:

          COPY INTO target_table
           FROM 'abfss://container@storageAccount.dfs.core.windows.net/raw-data/json'
           USING DELTA
           OPTIONS (
               'cloudFiles.useAzureMSI' 'true',
               'cloudFiles.useAzureSAS' 'false'
           );
   

   Replace target_table with the name of your target Unity Catalog table, and modify the source path as needed.
3. Manage Privileges and Schema Access
   1. Ensure you have the USE SCHEMA privilege for the schema that contains the target table.
   2. You also need the USE CATALOG privilege for the parent catalog.
4. Security Considerations
   1. Unity Catalog supports secure access to raw data using volumes or external locations. It's recommended to use volumes for secure file access during data ingestion.
   2. If your setup involves a compute resource configured with a service principal, follow specific steps for data loading with service principals or explore other configuration options based on your setup.
5. You can then use Azure Data Factory to orchestrate the data loading process, providing a robust way to manage and schedule data pipelines.
6. Continuously monitor the data loading process and optimize your data pipelines for performance and cost efficiency.

References

Source: Unity Catalog setup for Azure Databricks - YouTube Tutorial Accessed, 7/24/2024.

Source: Load data using COPY INTO with Unity Catalog volumes or external locations. Accessed, 7/24/2024.

Source: Azure Data Factory and Azure Databricks Best Practices. Accessed, 7/24/2024.

Source: How to Setup Databricks Unity Catalog for Azure. Accessed, 7/24/2024.

Accept Answer

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

** Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful ** so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

Best Regards,

Sina Salam