2 min read
Migrating to Fabric: 5 Things I Wish I Knew
We migrated from Synapse to Fabric. It took twice as long as expected. Here’s what I wish someone had told me.
1. Start Smaller Than You Think
We tried migrating everything at once. Bad idea.
Better approach:
- Pick one non-critical workload
- Learn the platform
- Build your patterns
- Then scale
2. Your Synapse Notebooks Won’t “Just Work”
Fabric uses different runtime versions. APIs changed. Dependencies are different.
Budget time for:
- Updating package versions
- Fixing path references
- Adjusting authentication
- Testing everything
3. Direct Lake Has Requirements
Direct Lake is amazing. But it requires:
- Data in Delta format
- Specific data types
- Proper partitioning
- OneLake storage
We had to restructure data. Plan for this.
4. Monitor From Day One
Capacity metrics are crucial. Without monitoring, you’ll hit limits and not know why.
Set up alerts early:
- Capacity utilization
- Throttling events
- Query failures
- Cost tracking
5. Train Your Team
Fabric is different enough that your team needs training. Not just documentation—actual hands-on practice.
We underestimated this. Cost us 2 weeks of confusion.
The Bottom Line
Fabric is good. Migration is work. Plan accordingly.
Budget 2x your initial estimate. You’ll need it.