Warehouses and Lakes
Warehouses and Lakes

How to load data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your Azure Blob Storage data into Firebolt within minutes.

TL;DR

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:

  1. set up Azure Blob Storage as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up Firebolt as a destination connector
  3. define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is Azure Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based storage solution provided by Microsoft Azure. It is designed to store large amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, videos, and audio files. Blob Storage is highly scalable and can store data of any size, from a few bytes to terabytes. It provides a cost-effective way to store and access data from anywhere in the world. Blob Storage also offers features such as data encryption, access control, and data redundancy to ensure data security and availability. It can be used for a variety of applications such as backup and disaster recovery, media storage, and data archiving.

What is Firebolt

Firebolt is a high-performance cloud-native data warehouse platform designed for massive-scale data analytics. It enables organizations to harness the power of big data with lightning-fast query speeds and unlimited scalability. Firebolt.io utilizes a unique indexing technology and a highly parallelized architecture to optimize data processing and reduce query latency. With its cloud-native approach, users can easily integrate and analyze diverse data sources while benefiting from automatic scalability and cost optimization. Firebolt.io empowers businesses to derive actionable insights from their data at unprecedented speed and efficiency, accelerating data-driven decision-making and unlocking the full potential of big data analytics.

Integrate Azure Blob Storage with Firebolt in minutes

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Prerequisites

  1. A Azure Blob Storage account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A Firebolt account.
  3. An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including Azure Blob Storage and Firebolt, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt, it extracts data from Azure Blob Storage using the source connector, converts it into a format Firebolt can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into Firebolt via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their Azure Blob Storage data for advanced analytics and insights within Firebolt, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up Azure Blob Storage as a source connector

1. First, navigate to the Airbyte website and create an account.
2. Once you have logged in, click on the "Sources" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Scroll down until you find the "Azure Blob Storage" connector and click on it.
4. Click on the "Create Connection" button.
5. Enter a name for your connection and fill in the required fields, such as your Azure Blob Storage account name and access key.
6. Test the connection to ensure that it is working properly.
7. Once the connection has been successfully tested, click on the "Save & Sync" button to save your connection and begin syncing data.
8. You can then configure your sync settings, such as the frequency of syncing and which data to include.
9. Once you have configured your sync settings, click on the "Save & Sync" button again to start syncing your data from Azure Blob Storage to Airbyte.

Step 2: Set up Firebolt as a destination connector

1. First, navigate to the Firebolt destination connector on Airbyte.
2. Click on the "Create a new connection" button.
3. Enter a name for your connection.
4. Enter your Firebolt API key and secret.
5. Enter the name of the Firebolt database you want to connect to.
6. Enter the name of the schema you want to use.
7. Choose the tables you want to replicate.
8. Configure any additional settings, such as the replication frequency and the maximum number of rows to replicate.
9. Test the connection to ensure that it is working properly.
10. Save the connection and start the replication process.
Note: It is important to have a basic understanding of Firebolt and its API before attempting to connect it to Airbyte. Additionally, it is recommended to consult the Airbyte documentation for more detailed instructions and troubleshooting tips.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Azure Blob Storage data to Firebolt

Once you've successfully connected Azure Blob Storage as a data source and Firebolt as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

  1. Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
  2. Choose your source: Select Azure Blob Storage from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose Firebolt from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
  4. Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
  5. Select the data to sync: Choose the specific Azure Blob Storage objects you want to import data from towards Firebolt. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
  6. Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
  7. Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
  8. Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your Firebolt data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Azure Blob Storage data.

Use Cases to transfer your Azure Blob Storage data to Firebolt

Integrating data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

  1. Advanced Analytics: Firebolt’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your Azure Blob Storage data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within Azure Blob Storage alone.
  2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with Azure Blob Storage, syncing to Firebolt allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
  3. Historical Data Analysis: Azure Blob Storage has limits on historical data. Syncing data to Firebolt allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
  4. Data Security and Compliance: Firebolt provides robust data security features. Syncing Azure Blob Storage data to Firebolt ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
  5. Scalability: Firebolt can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding Azure Blob Storage data.
  6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having Azure Blob Storage data in Firebolt, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
  7. Reporting and Visualization: While Azure Blob Storage provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to Firebolt, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a Azure Blob Storage table that needs to be converted to a Firebolt table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a Azure Blob Storage account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure Firebolt as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

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Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
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Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
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What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from Azure Blob Storage?

Azure Blob Storage's API provides access to various types of data, including:
1. Unstructured data: This includes any type of data that does not have a predefined data model or structure, such as text, images, videos, and audio files.
2. Structured data: This includes data that has a predefined data model or structure, such as tables, columns, and rows.
3. Semi-structured data: This includes data that has some structure, but not enough to fit into a traditional relational database, such as JSON, XML, and CSV files.
4. Metadata: This includes information about the data stored in Azure Blob Storage, such as file size, creation date, and last modified date.
5. Access control data: This includes information about who has access to the data stored in Azure Blob Storage and what level of access they have.
6. Logging data: This includes information about the activities performed on the data stored in Azure Blob Storage, such as read and write operations, and access attempts.Overall, Azure Blob Storage's API provides access to a wide range of data types, making it a versatile and flexible storage solution for various types of applications and use cases.

What data can you transfer to Firebolt?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to Firebolt. This usually includes structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like transaction records, log files, JSON data, CSV files, and more, allowing robust, scalable data integration and analysis.

What are top ETL tools to transfer data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from Azure Blob Storage to Firebolt include:

  • Airbyte
  • Fivetran
  • Stitch
  • Matillion
  • Talend Data Integration

These tools help in extracting data from Azure Blob Storage and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into Firebolt and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.