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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
2. set up DuckDB 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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL)

Microsoft SQL Server Consultants help companies choose the best business software solutions for their needs. Microsoft SQL Server Consultants help businesses resolve questions and issues, provide businesses with reliable information resources, and, ultimately, make better decisions on the software most appropriate for their unique needs. Consultants are available to help on call and can connect remotely to businesses’ computers to upgrade outdated editions of SQL servers to bring functions up to date for improved productivity.

What is DuckDB

DuckDB is an in-process SQL OLAP database management system. It has strong support for SQL. DuckDB is borrowing the SQLite shell implementation. Each database is a single file on disk. It’s analogous to “ SQLite for analytical (OLAP) workloads” (direct comparison on the SQLite vs DuckDB paper here), whereas SQLite is for OLTP ones. But it can handle vast amounts of data locally. It’s the smaller, lighter version of Apache Druid and other OLAP technologies.

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Prerequisites

1. A Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
2. A DuckDB 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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) and DuckDB, for seamless data migration.

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

Methods to Move Data From Microsoft SQL server to duckdb

• Method 1: Connecting Microsoft SQL server to duckdb using Airbyte.
• Method 2: Connecting Microsoft SQL server to duckdb manually.

Method 1: Connecting Microsoft SQL server to duckdb using Airbyte

Step 1: Set up Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) as a source connector

1. Open the Airbyte platform and navigate to the "Sources" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.

2. Click on the "Add Source" button and select "MSSQL - SQL Server" from the list of available connectors.

3. Enter a name for the connector and click on the "Next" button.

4. Enter the required credentials for your MSSQL - SQL Server database, including the server name, port number, database name, username, and password.

5. Test the connection to ensure that the credentials are correct and the connection is successful.

6. Select the tables or views that you want to replicate from the MSSQL - SQL Server database.

7. Choose the replication mode that you want to use, either full or incremental.

8. Configure any additional settings, such as the replication frequency and the maximum number of rows to replicate.

9. Click on the "Create Source" button to save the configuration and start the replication process.

10. Monitor the replication process and troubleshoot any issues that may arise using the Airbyte platform's monitoring and logging features.

Step 2: Set up DuckDB as a destination connector

1. Open the Airbyte platform and navigate to the "Destinations" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Click on the "Add Destination" button located in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Scroll down the list of available destinations until you find "DuckDB" and click on it.
4. Fill in the required information for your DuckDB database, including the host, port, database name, username, and password.
5. Test the connection to ensure that the information you provided is correct and that Airbyte can successfully connect to your DuckDB database.
6. If the connection is successful, click on the "Save" button to save your DuckDB destination connector.
7. You can now use this connector to transfer data from your source connectors to your DuckDB database. Simply select the DuckDB destination connector when setting up your data integration pipelines in Airbyte.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data to DuckDB

Once you've successfully connected Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) as a data source and DuckDB 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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
3. Select your destination: Choose DuckDB 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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) objects you want to import data from towards DuckDB. 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 Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) to DuckDB according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your DuckDB data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data.

Method 2: Connecting Microsoft SQL server to duckdb manually

Moving data from Microsoft SQL Server to DuckDB without using third-party connectors or integrations can be a bit of a manual process, but it's certainly possible. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you accomplish this task:

Step 1: Export Data from Microsoft SQL Server

First, you need to export the data from SQL Server into a format that can be imported into DuckDB. A common format for this task is CSV.

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to your database.

2. Run a query to select the data you want to export or right-click on the database, then go to Tasks > Export Data.

3. Choose the Flat File Destination as the export format and select CSV.

4. Configure the export settings such as file location, delimiter, encoding, and whether to include headers.

5. Execute the export. SQL Server will generate CSV files for the data you've chosen to export.

Step 2: Install DuckDB

If you haven't already, you need to install DuckDB.

1. Download DuckDB for your operating system from the official website or use a package manager.

2. Install DuckDB following the instructions provided on the website or by the package manager.

Step 3: Import Data into DuckDB

Now you will import the CSV files into DuckDB.

1. Open DuckDB. You can use the DuckDB CLI or a programming language of your choice with DuckDB bindings (like Python).

2. Create a new database or connect to an existing one in DuckDB.

3. Create the necessary tables in DuckDB to hold your data. Ensure that the schema in DuckDB matches the schema of the data you exported from SQL Server.

   ```sql

   CREATE TABLE your_table_name (

       column1 data_type,

       column2 data_type,

       ...

   );

   ```

4. Import the CSV files into DuckDB using the `COPY` command. Specify the file path, delimiter, and any other relevant options.

   ```sql

   COPY your_table_name FROM '/path/to/your/exportedfile.csv' (FORMAT CSV, HEADER, DELIMITER ',');

   ```

5. Verify the data to ensure it has been imported correctly. Run some queries to check the counts, sample data, etc.

   ```sql

   SELECT * FROM your_table_name LIMIT 10;

   ```

Step 4: Validate and Clean Up

After you've imported the data into DuckDB, you should validate that the data looks correct and perform any necessary cleanup.

1. Check for any import errors and review the data types and values to ensure they match what was in SQL Server.

2. Create any indexes or additional structures needed in DuckDB for your use case.

3. Test your applications or queries against the new DuckDB tables to ensure they interact with the data as expected.

Remember, this is a manual process, and depending on the size and complexity of your database, it might be time-consuming. If you find yourself doing this often or with large datasets, you might want to consider using a data integration tool like Airbyte or writing a more complex script that can handle incremental updates and other advanced scenarios.

Use Cases to transfer your Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data to DuckDB

Integrating data from Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) to DuckDB provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

1. Advanced Analytics: DuckDB’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) alone.
2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL), syncing to DuckDB 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: Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) has limits on historical data. Syncing data to DuckDB allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
4. Data Security and Compliance: DuckDB provides robust data security features. Syncing Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data to DuckDB ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
5. Scalability: DuckDB can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data.
6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) data in DuckDB, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
7. Reporting and Visualization: While Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to DuckDB, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) table that needs to be converted to a DuckDB table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

1. Configure a Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) account as an Airbyte data source connector.
2. Configure DuckDB as a data destination connector.
3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) to DuckDB 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!