Connect to SQL Server Data in as an External Source in Dremio

The CData JDBC Driver for SQL Server implements JDBC Standards and allows various applications, including Dremio, to work with live SQL Server 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 SQL Server data as a part of your enterprise data lake. This article describes how to connect to SQL Server data from Dremio as an External Source.

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

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

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 SQL Server to %DREMIO_HOME%/jars/3rdparty. You can use commands similar to the following:

ARP Connector

docker cp PATH\TO\dremio-sql-plugin-20.0.0.jar dremio_image_name:/opt/dremio/jars/

JDBC Driver for SQL Server

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

Connecting to SQL Server

SQL Server will now appear as an External Source option in Dremio. The ARP Connector built uses a JDBC URL to connect to SQL Server 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 SQL Server JDBC Driver. Double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.sql.jar

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

Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

Connect to Microsoft SQL Server using the following properties:

• Server: The name of the server running SQL Server.
• User: The username provided for authentication with SQL Server.
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
• Database: The name of the SQL Server database.

Connecting to Azure SQL Server and Azure Data Warehouse

You can authenticate to Azure SQL Server or Azure Data Warehouse by setting the following connection properties:

• Server: The server running Azure. You can find this by logging into the Azure portal and navigating to "SQL databases" (or "SQL data warehouses") -> "Select your database" -> "Overview" -> "Server name."
• User: The name of the user authenticating to Azure.
• Password: The password associated with the authenticating user.
• Database: The name of the database, as seen in the Azure portal on the SQL databases (or SQL warehouses) page.

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:sql:RTK=5246...;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;Database=NorthWind;Server=myServer;Port=1433;

Access SQL Server as an External Source

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

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

More Information & Free Trial

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