How to connect PolyBase to Salesforce Data Cloud



Use CData drivers and PolyBase to create an external data source in SQL Server 2019 with access to live Salesforce Data Cloud data.

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 Salesforce Data Cloud, you get access to your Salesforce Data Cloud data directly alongside your SQL Server data. This article describes creating an external data source and external tables to grant access to live Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud data using PolyBase due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SQL Server to Salesforce Data Cloud, the driver pushes down supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud data, using a single query to pull data from distributed sources.

Connect to Salesforce Data Cloud

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 Salesforce Data Cloud Sys is created automatically).

Salesforce Data Cloud supports authentication via the OAuth standard.

OAuth

Set AuthScheme to OAuth.

Desktop Applications

CData provides an embedded OAuth application that simplifies authentication at the desktop.

You can also authenticate from the desktop via a custom OAuth application, which you configure and register at the Salesforce Data Cloud console. For further information, see Creating a Custom OAuth App in the Help documentation.

Before you connect, set these properties:

  • InitiateOAuth: GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId (custom applications only): The Client ID assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.
  • OAuthClientSecret (custom applications only): The Client Secret assigned when you registered your custom OAuth application.

When you connect, the driver opens Salesforce Data Cloud's OAuth endpoint in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application.

The driver then completes the OAuth process as follows:

  • Extracts the access token from the callback URL.
  • Obtains a new access token when the old one expires.
  • Saves OAuth values in OAuthSettingsLocation so that they persist across connections.
  • For other OAuth methods, including Web Applications and Headless Machines, refer to the Help documentation.

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

    Create an External Data Source for Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud data.

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

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

    Create an External Data Source for Salesforce Data Cloud

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

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

    For Salesforce Data Cloud, 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_salesforcedatacloud_source
    WITH ( 
      LOCATION = 'odbc://SERVER_URL',
      CONNECTION_OPTIONS = 'DSN=CData Salesforce Data Cloud Sys',
      -- PUSHDOWN = ON | OFF,
      CREDENTIAL = salesforcedatacloud_creds
    );
    

    Create External Tables for Salesforce Data Cloud

    After creating the external data source, use CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statements to link to Salesforce Data Cloud data from your SQL Server instance. The table column definitions must match those exposed by the CData ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud. 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 Salesforce Data Cloud Account would look similar to the following:

    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE Account(
      [Account ID] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
      [Account Name] [nvarchar](255) NULL,
      ...
    ) WITH ( 
      LOCATION='Account',
      DATA_SOURCE=cdata_salesforcedatacloud_source
    );
    

    Having created external tables for Salesforce Data Cloud 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 Salesforce Data Cloud, freeing up local resources and computing power. Download a free, 30-day trial of the ODBC Driver for Salesforce Data Cloud and start working with live Salesforce Data Cloud data alongside your SQL Server data today.

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Learn more:

Salesforce Data Cloud Icon Salesforce Data Cloud ODBC Driver

The Salesforce Data Cloud ODBC Driver is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with live data from Salesforce Data Cloud, directly from any applications that support ODBC connectivity.

Access Salesforce Data Cloud data like you would a database - read, write, and update Salesforce Data Cloud 0, etc. through a standard ODBC Driver interface.