6 min read
External Data Access Patterns in Microsoft Fabric
Accessing external data is essential for hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios. Today I’m exploring external data access patterns in Microsoft Fabric.
External Data Options
External Data Access:
├── OneLake Shortcuts
│ ├── Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2
│ ├── Amazon S3
│ ├── Google Cloud Storage
│ └── Dataverse
├── Data Pipelines (Copy)
├── Dataflows Gen2
├── Spark External Tables
└── Mirroring (Preview)ADLS Gen2 Shortcuts
class ADLSShortcutManager:
"""Manage shortcuts to Azure Data Lake Storage."""
def __init__(self, fabric_client):
self.client = fabric_client
def create_adls_shortcut(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
shortcut_name: str,
storage_account: str,
container: str,
path: str = "",
auth_type: str = "organizational"
):
"""Create shortcut to ADLS Gen2."""
shortcut_config = {
"name": shortcut_name,
"target": {
"type": "AzureDataLakeStorageGen2",
"url": f"https://{storage_account}.dfs.core.windows.net/{container}",
"subpath": path
}
}
if auth_type == "organizational":
# Uses Entra ID authentication
shortcut_config["target"]["authentication"] = {
"type": "OrganizationalAccount"
}
elif auth_type == "service_principal":
shortcut_config["target"]["authentication"] = {
"type": "ServicePrincipal",
"connectionId": self._get_connection_id(storage_account)
}
return self.client.shortcuts.create(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
item_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut=shortcut_config
)
def create_hierarchical_shortcuts(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
storage_account: str,
container: str,
partitions: list
):
"""Create shortcuts for partitioned data."""
shortcuts = []
for partition in partitions:
shortcut = self.create_adls_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=f"data_{partition['name']}",
storage_account=storage_account,
container=container,
path=partition['path']
)
shortcuts.append(shortcut)
return shortcuts
# Usage
adls_manager = ADLSShortcutManager(fabric_client)
# Create shortcut to external data lake
adls_manager.create_adls_shortcut(
workspace_id="ws-analytics",
lakehouse_id="lh-central",
shortcut_name="external_sales_data",
storage_account="companydatalake",
container="sales",
path="processed/2024"
)
# Create shortcuts for regional partitions
adls_manager.create_hierarchical_shortcuts(
workspace_id="ws-analytics",
lakehouse_id="lh-central",
storage_account="companydatalake",
container="sales",
partitions=[
{"name": "north_america", "path": "regions/na"},
{"name": "europe", "path": "regions/eu"},
{"name": "asia_pacific", "path": "regions/apac"}
]
)Amazon S3 Integration
class S3ShortcutManager:
"""Manage shortcuts to Amazon S3."""
def __init__(self, fabric_client):
self.client = fabric_client
def create_s3_connection(
self,
name: str,
access_key_id: str,
secret_access_key: str,
region: str = "us-east-1"
):
"""Create connection to S3."""
return self.client.connections.create(
name=name,
connection_type="AmazonS3",
credentials={
"credentialType": "Key",
"accessKeyId": access_key_id,
"secretAccessKey": secret_access_key
},
properties={
"region": region
}
)
def create_s3_shortcut(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
shortcut_name: str,
bucket: str,
path: str,
connection_id: str
):
"""Create shortcut to S3 bucket."""
return self.client.shortcuts.create(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
item_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut={
"name": shortcut_name,
"target": {
"type": "AmazonS3",
"location": f"s3://{bucket}/{path}",
"connectionId": connection_id
}
}
)
def sync_s3_catalog(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
bucket: str,
connection_id: str,
prefix: str = ""
):
"""Create shortcuts for all top-level folders in S3."""
# List S3 folders
s3_client = self._get_s3_client(connection_id)
folders = self._list_folders(s3_client, bucket, prefix)
shortcuts = []
for folder in folders:
shortcut = self.create_s3_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=f"s3_{folder['name']}",
bucket=bucket,
path=folder['path'],
connection_id=connection_id
)
shortcuts.append(shortcut)
return shortcuts
# Usage
s3_manager = S3ShortcutManager(fabric_client)
# Create connection
connection = s3_manager.create_s3_connection(
name="aws-analytics-bucket",
access_key_id="AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
secret_access_key="wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY",
region="us-west-2"
)
# Create shortcut
s3_manager.create_s3_shortcut(
workspace_id="ws-analytics",
lakehouse_id="lh-central",
shortcut_name="aws_clickstream",
bucket="company-clickstream-data",
path="processed/2024",
connection_id=connection.id
)Google Cloud Storage
class GCSShortcutManager:
"""Manage shortcuts to Google Cloud Storage."""
def __init__(self, fabric_client):
self.client = fabric_client
def create_gcs_connection(
self,
name: str,
service_account_key: dict
):
"""Create connection to GCS."""
return self.client.connections.create(
name=name,
connection_type="GoogleCloudStorage",
credentials={
"credentialType": "ServiceAccountKey",
"serviceAccountKey": json.dumps(service_account_key)
}
)
def create_gcs_shortcut(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
shortcut_name: str,
bucket: str,
path: str,
connection_id: str
):
"""Create shortcut to GCS bucket."""
return self.client.shortcuts.create(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
item_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut={
"name": shortcut_name,
"target": {
"type": "GoogleCloudStorage",
"location": f"gs://{bucket}/{path}",
"connectionId": connection_id
}
}
)
# Usage
gcs_manager = GCSShortcutManager(fabric_client)
# Create shortcut to BigQuery export
gcs_manager.create_gcs_shortcut(
workspace_id="ws-analytics",
lakehouse_id="lh-central",
shortcut_name="gcp_bigquery_export",
bucket="company-bq-exports",
path="daily_exports/customers",
connection_id="gcs-connection-id"
)Spark External Tables
# PySpark - Create external table pointing to cloud storage
spark.sql("""
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS external_catalog.aws_events (
event_id STRING,
event_type STRING,
user_id STRING,
event_data STRING,
event_timestamp TIMESTAMP
)
USING DELTA
LOCATION 's3a://company-events/delta/events'
OPTIONS (
'fs.s3a.access.key' = '${AWS_ACCESS_KEY}',
'fs.s3a.secret.key' = '${AWS_SECRET_KEY}'
)
""")
# Query external table
df = spark.sql("""
SELECT
event_type,
COUNT(*) as event_count,
COUNT(DISTINCT user_id) as unique_users
FROM external_catalog.aws_events
WHERE event_timestamp >= current_date() - INTERVAL 7 DAYS
GROUP BY event_type
ORDER BY event_count DESC
""")Dataverse Integration
class DataverseConnector:
"""Connect to Dataverse from Fabric."""
def __init__(self, fabric_client):
self.client = fabric_client
def create_dataverse_shortcut(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
shortcut_name: str,
environment_url: str,
table_name: str
):
"""Create shortcut to Dataverse table."""
return self.client.shortcuts.create(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
item_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut={
"name": shortcut_name,
"target": {
"type": "Dataverse",
"environmentUrl": environment_url,
"tableName": table_name
}
}
)
def sync_dataverse_tables(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
environment_url: str,
tables: list
):
"""Create shortcuts for multiple Dataverse tables."""
shortcuts = []
for table in tables:
shortcut = self.create_dataverse_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=f"dv_{table.lower()}",
environment_url=environment_url,
table_name=table
)
shortcuts.append(shortcut)
return shortcuts
# Usage
dataverse = DataverseConnector(fabric_client)
# Sync CRM tables
dataverse.sync_dataverse_tables(
workspace_id="ws-sales",
lakehouse_id="lh-crm",
environment_url="https://org.crm.dynamics.com",
tables=["account", "contact", "opportunity", "lead"]
)Multi-Cloud Data Federation
class MultiCloudFederation:
"""Federate data across cloud providers."""
def __init__(self, fabric_client):
self.client = fabric_client
self.adls = ADLSShortcutManager(fabric_client)
self.s3 = S3ShortcutManager(fabric_client)
self.gcs = GCSShortcutManager(fabric_client)
def create_unified_view(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
sources: list
):
"""Create unified view across cloud sources."""
# Create shortcuts for each source
for source in sources:
if source["type"] == "adls":
self.adls.create_adls_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=source["name"],
storage_account=source["storage_account"],
container=source["container"],
path=source.get("path", "")
)
elif source["type"] == "s3":
self.s3.create_s3_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=source["name"],
bucket=source["bucket"],
path=source.get("path", ""),
connection_id=source["connection_id"]
)
elif source["type"] == "gcs":
self.gcs.create_gcs_shortcut(
workspace_id=workspace_id,
lakehouse_id=lakehouse_id,
shortcut_name=source["name"],
bucket=source["bucket"],
path=source.get("path", ""),
connection_id=source["connection_id"]
)
# Create unified SQL view
self._create_unified_sql_view(workspace_id, lakehouse_id, sources)
def _create_unified_sql_view(
self,
workspace_id: str,
lakehouse_id: str,
sources: list
):
"""Create SQL view combining all sources."""
union_queries = []
for source in sources:
union_queries.append(f"""
SELECT
'{source['cloud']}' as source_cloud,
'{source['name']}' as source_name,
*
FROM {source['name']}
""")
view_sql = f"""
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW unified_data AS
{' UNION ALL '.join(union_queries)}
"""
self.client.sql.execute(workspace_id, lakehouse_id, view_sql)
# Usage
federation = MultiCloudFederation(fabric_client)
# Create unified customer view across clouds
federation.create_unified_view(
workspace_id="ws-analytics",
lakehouse_id="lh-central",
sources=[
{
"name": "azure_customers",
"type": "adls",
"cloud": "azure",
"storage_account": "companydatalake",
"container": "customers",
"path": "processed"
},
{
"name": "aws_customers",
"type": "s3",
"cloud": "aws",
"bucket": "company-customer-data",
"path": "customers",
"connection_id": "s3-conn-id"
},
{
"name": "gcp_customers",
"type": "gcs",
"cloud": "gcp",
"bucket": "company-customers-gcp",
"path": "exported",
"connection_id": "gcs-conn-id"
}
]
)Best Practices
- Use shortcuts over copies - Zero-copy saves storage costs
- Secure connections - Use managed identities when possible
- Monitor performance - Cross-cloud queries have latency
- Cache hot data - Materialize frequently accessed external data
- Plan for failures - External sources can be unavailable
What’s Next
Tomorrow I’ll cover security fundamentals in Microsoft Fabric.