Hybrid ETL Architecture Across DB2, SQL Server, and MySQL
By Tom Nonmacher
With the rise of big data and the need for real-time data analytics, modern data architectures are increasingly adopting a hybrid ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) approach. This approach allows for seamless data integration across diverse databases like DB2, SQL Server, and MySQL. Today, we will dive into the intricacies of implementing a hybrid ETL architecture across DB2 10.5, SQL Server 2012/2014, and MySQL 5.6.
Before we delve into the specifics, let's briefly touch upon what hybrid ETL means. ETL is a process used to extract data from different source systems, transform it to suit business needs, and load it into a destination database. A hybrid ETL architecture signifies a combination of on-premise and cloud-based ETL processes. This architecture effectively handles structured and unstructured data from multiple sources, be it on-premise databases, cloud-based systems, or even SaaS applications.
To implement a hybrid ETL across DB2, SQL Server, and MySQL, you need to set up linked servers. In SQL Server 2012/2014, you can use the sp_addlinkedserver stored procedure to set up a linked server to DB2 or MySQL. Here is a T-SQL code snippet to add a linked server to DB2:
EXEC sp_addlinkedserver @server='DB2Server',
@srvproduct='',
@provider='IBMDADB2',
@datasrc='YourDB2DataSource';
In this code snippet, 'DB2Server' is the name of the linked server, 'IBMDADB2' is the provider name, and 'YourDB2DataSource' is the name of the data source. Similarly, you can add a linked server to MySQL.
Once you have your linked servers set up, you can execute distributed queries across DB2, SQL Server, and MySQL databases. For example, you can use a four-part naming convention (linked server name.catalog.schema.object) in your T-SQL queries to access data from DB2 or MySQL databases.
While SQL Server provides native support for linking to other databases, for MySQL, you might need to use a third-party tool like MySQL Connector/ODBC or MySQL Connector/Net. You can use these connectors to set up a DSN (Data Source Name) that can be used to access data from a MySQL database.
One of the significant advantages of a hybrid ETL architecture is the ability to leverage cloud-based services like Azure SQL. Azure SQL is a fully-managed cloud service that provides the broadest SQL Server engine compatibility. It allows you to migrate your on-premise SQL Server databases to the cloud with minimal downtime. Once your data is on Azure SQL, you can use Azure Data Factory, a fully-managed cloud-based ETL service, to orchestrate and automate your data movement and data transformation.
In conclusion, a hybrid ETL architecture across DB2, SQL Server, and MySQL not only provides a unified data view but also enables real-time data analytics. By utilizing the power of Azure SQL and Azure Data Factory, businesses can easily scale their data workloads, automate ETL processes, and ultimately derive valuable insights from their data.