How to connect PolyBase to Marketo

PolyBase for SQL Server allows you to query external data by using the same Transact-SQL syntax used to query a database table. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for Marketo, you get access to your Marketo data directly alongside your SQL Server data. This article describes creating an external data source and external tables to grant access to live Marketo data using T-SQL queries.

NOTE: PolyBase is only available on SQL Server 19 and above, and only for Standard SQL Server.

The CData ODBC drivers offer unmatched performance for interacting with live Marketo data using PolyBase due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SQL Server to Marketo, the driver pushes down supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Marketo and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. And with PolyBase, you can also join SQL Server data with Marketo data, using a single query to pull data from distributed sources.

Connect to Marketo

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs. To create an external data source in SQL Server using PolyBase, configure a System DSN (CData Marketo Sys is created automatically).

Both the REST and SOAP APIs are supported and can be chosen by using the Schema property.

For the REST API: The OAuthClientId, OAuthClientSecret, and RESTEndpoint properties, under the OAuth and REST Connection sections, must be set to valid Marketo user credentials.

For the SOAP API: The UserId, EncryptionKey, and SOAPEndpoint properties, under the SOAP Connection section, must be set to valid Marketo user credentials.

See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to obtaining these values.

Click "Test Connection" to ensure that the DSN is connected to Marketo properly. Navigate to the Tables tab to review the table definitions for Marketo.

Create an External Data Source for Marketo Data

After configuring the connection, you need to create a master encryption key and a credential database for the external data source.

Creating a Master Encryption Key

Execute the following SQL command to create a new master key, 'ENCRYPTION,' to encrypt the credentials for the external data source.

CREATE MASTER KEY ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'password';

Creating a Credential Database

Execute the following SQL command to create credentials for the external data source connected to Marketo data.

NOTE: Since Marketo does not require a User or Password to authenticate, you may use whatever values you wish for IDENTITY and SECRET.

CREATE DATABASE SCOPED CREDENTIAL marketo_creds
WITH IDENTITY = 'username', SECRET = 'password';

Create an External Data Source for Marketo

Execute a CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE SQL command to create an external data source for Marketo with PolyBase:

• Set the LOCATION parameter , using the DSN and credentials configured earlier.

For Marketo, set SERVERNAME to the URL or address for your server (e.g. 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' for local servers; the remote URL for remote servers). Leave PORT empty. PUSHDOWN is set to ON by default, meaning the ODBC Driver can leverage server-side processing for complex queries.

CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE cdata_marketo_source
WITH ( 
  LOCATION = 'odbc://SERVER_URL',
  CONNECTION_OPTIONS = 'DSN=CData Marketo Sys',
  -- PUSHDOWN = ON | OFF,
  CREDENTIAL = marketo_creds
);

Create External Tables for Marketo

After creating the external data source, use CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statements to link to Marketo data from your SQL Server instance. The table column definitions must match those exposed by the CData ODBC Driver for Marketo. You can refer to the Tables tab of the DSN Configuration Wizard to see the table definition.

Sample CREATE TABLE Statement

The statement to create an external table based on a Marketo Leads would look similar to the following:

CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE Leads(
  Email [nvarchar](255) NULL,
  AnnualRevenue [nvarchar](255) NULL,
  ...
) WITH ( 
  LOCATION='Leads',
  DATA_SOURCE=cdata_marketo_source
);

Having created external tables for Marketo in your SQL Server instance, you are now able to query local and remote data simultaneously. Thanks to built-in query processing in the CData ODBC Driver, you know that as much query processing as possible is being pushed to Marketo, freeing up local resources and computing power. Download a free, 30-day trial of the ODBC Driver for Marketo and start working with live Marketo data alongside your SQL Server data today.