Warehouses and Lakes
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How to load data from Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your Parquet File data into Databricks Lakehouse 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 Parquet File as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up Databricks Lakehouse 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 Parquet File

Parquet File is a columnar storage file format that is designed to store and process large amounts of data efficiently. It is an open-source project that was developed by Cloudera and Twitter. Parquet File is optimized for use with Hadoop and other big data processing frameworks, and it is designed to work well with both structured and unstructured data. The format is highly compressed, which makes it ideal for storing and processing large datasets. Parquet File is also designed to be highly scalable, which means that it can be used to store and process data across multiple nodes in a distributed computing environment.

What is Databricks Lakehouse

Databricks is an American enterprise software company founded by the creators of Apache Spark. Databricks combines data warehouses and data lakes into a lakehouse architecture.

Integrate Parquet File with Databricks Lakehouse in minutes

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Prerequisites

  1. A Parquet File account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A Databricks Lakehouse 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 Parquet File and Databricks Lakehouse, for seamless data migration.

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

Step 1: Set up Parquet File as a source connector

1. Open the Airbyte dashboard and click on "Sources" on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Click on the "Create Connection" button and select "Parquet File" from the list of available connectors.
3. Enter a name for your connection and click on "Next".
4. In the "Configuration" tab, enter the path to your Parquet file in the "File Path" field.
5. If your Parquet file is password-protected, enter the password in the "Password" field.
6. If your Parquet file is encrypted, select the appropriate encryption type from the "Encryption Type" dropdown menu and enter the encryption key in the "Encryption Key" field.
7. Click on "Test Connection" to ensure that your credentials are correct and that Airbyte can connect to your Parquet file.
8. If the test is successful, click on "Create" to save your connection.
9. You can now use this connection to create a new Airbyte pipeline and start syncing data from your Parquet file to your destination.

Step 2: Set up Databricks Lakehouse as a destination connector

1. First, navigate to the Airbyte website and log in to your account.
2. Once you are logged in, click on the "Destinations" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Scroll down until you find the "Databricks Lakehouse" connector and click on it.
4. You will be prompted to enter your Databricks Lakehouse credentials, including your account name, personal access token, and workspace ID.
5. Once you have entered your credentials, click on the "Test" button to ensure that the connection is successful.
6. If the test is successful, click on the "Save" button to save your Databricks Lakehouse destination connector settings.
7. You can now use the Databricks Lakehouse connector to transfer data from your source connectors to your Databricks Lakehouse destination.
8. To set up a data transfer, navigate to the "Sources" tab and select the source connector that you want to use.
9. Follow the prompts to enter your source connector credentials and configure your data transfer settings.
10. Once you have configured your source connector, select the Databricks Lakehouse connector as your destination and follow the prompts to configure your data transfer settings.
11. Click on the "Run" button to initiate the data transfer.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Parquet File data to Databricks Lakehouse

Once you've successfully connected Parquet File as a data source and Databricks Lakehouse 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 Parquet File from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose Databricks Lakehouse 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 Parquet File objects you want to import data from towards Databricks Lakehouse. 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 Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your Databricks Lakehouse data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Parquet File data.

Use Cases to transfer your Parquet File data to Databricks Lakehouse

Integrating data from Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

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

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a Parquet File account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure Databricks Lakehouse as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse 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!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from Parquet File?

Parquet File's API gives access to various types of data, including:  

• Structured data: Parquet files can store structured data in a columnar format, making it easy to query and analyze large datasets.  
• Semi-structured data: Parquet files can also store semi-structured data, such as JSON or XML, allowing for more flexibility in data storage.  
• Unstructured data: Parquet files can store unstructured data, such as text or binary data, making it possible to store a wide range of data types in a single file.  
• Big data: Parquet files are designed for big data applications, allowing for efficient storage and processing of large datasets.  
• Machine learning data: Parquet files are commonly used in machine learning applications, as they can store large amounts of data in a format that is optimized for processing by machine learning algorithms.  

Overall, Parquet File's API provides access to a wide range of data types, making it a versatile tool for data storage and analysis in a variety of applications.

What data can you transfer to Databricks Lakehouse?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to Databricks Lakehouse. 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 Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from Parquet File to Databricks Lakehouse include:

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

These tools help in extracting data from Parquet File and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into Databricks Lakehouse and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.