You just started a new data analyst job and heard your team uses something called SSIS for their data pipelines. SSIS stands for SQL Server Integration Services and it’s been around for years helping companies move and transform data. But you’ve never used it before. Don’t worry! SSIS 816 is the latest version and it’s full of new features to make your ETL life easier. In this article, we’ll walk through SSIS 816 basics so you can start building your own data workflows. We’ll look at connections, data flows, containers, logging, and more. With a little practice, you’ll be an SSIS expert in no time! Let’s dive in and get your hands dirty with your first SSIS package.
An Introduction to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
SSIS is Microsoft’s enterprise data integration, data transformation and data movement tool. It allows you to connect to a wide SSIS 816 range of data sources, perform transformations and load the data into one or more destinations.
Connecting to data sources
You can connect to flat files, relational databases, OLAP cubes, OLE DB and ODBC data sources using native or third party connectors. SSIS includes connectors for SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, DB2, Sybase, etc. You can also build your own connectors using the SSIS API.
Performing Transformations
SSIS includes a rich set of data transformation capabilities like Lookup, Fuzzy Lookup, Term Extraction, Data Mining Model Training, SSIS 816 Data mining Query Task, etc. You can use these out of the box transformations or build your own using the Script Task.
Loading data
You can load data into SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Flat files, Excel files, etc. SSIS provides different data loading techniques like Bulk Insert, MERGE, UPSERT, etc. to load data efficiently.
Orchestrating ETL
SSIS includes features like variables, parameters, precedence constraints, and containers to orchestrate an end to end ETL process. You can build packages that perform very complex ETL processes.
Deploying and managing packages
SSIS includes features to deploy packages to the SSIS catalog, configure environments, set parameters, run and manage packages. You can also deploy packages to the SSIS catalog on an Azure SQL Database.
With a robust set of capabilities and a familiar development experience, SSIS provides an enterprise grade solution for your data integration needs. Give it a try and you’ll be automating your ETL processes in no time!
What’s New in SSIS 816
SSIS 816 has some exciting new features that will make your life as an ETL developer much easier.
Scalability improvements
SSIS now supports running packages in Azure SQL Managed Instance, meaning you can scale out your workloads in the cloud. You also get built-in high availability for your packages.
Python and R scripting
You can now execute Python and R scripts from within your SSIS packages using the new Execute Python/R Script task. This opens up a whole new world of data transformation possibilities!
Updates to components
The OLE DB connector now supports connecting to Azure Synapse, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. The Azure Blob Upload and Azure Blob Download tasks have been updated to support Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2.
The control flow organizes and sequences data flow components into a logical workflow. It allows you to execute tasks in order, set conditions, and handle errors. Using control flow components like containers, tasks, precedences constraints, and event handlers you can build robust ETL processes.
Enhanced logging
The logging in SSIS has been improved to provide more details to help troubleshoot issues. You now get data lineage details, performance counters and profiles, Azure Monitor integration, and package execution live data. The new logs make monitoring your ETL processes a breeze.
The control flow organizes and sequences data flow components into a logical workflow. It allows you to execute tasks in order, set conditions, and handle errors. Using control flow components like containers, tasks, precedences constraints, and event handlers you can build robust ETL processes.
ADF integration
SSIS now integrates with Azure Data Factory (ADF) for hybrid data integration at scale. You can execute and monitor your SSIS packages from ADF using the new SSIS IR (Integration Runtime). This allows you to lift and shift your existing SSIS workloads to Azure with no code changes needed.
With all these new capabilities, SSIS continues to be the go-to tool for data integration, whether on-premises or in the cloud. The latest updates will make building and managing your ETL solutions faster and more robust than ever before. Time to dive in and explore all SSIS has to offer!
The control flow organizes and sequences data flow components into a logical workflow. It allows you to execute tasks in order, set conditions, and handle errors. Using control flow components like containers, tasks, precedences constraints, and event handlers you can build robust ETL processes.
Key Components of SSIS 816 for ETL
To get started with SSIS, it’s important to understand its key components. These building blocks will allow you to create powerful ETL solutions.
The control flow organizes and sequences data flow components into a logical workflow. It allows you to execute tasks in order, set conditions, and handle errors. Using control flow components like containers, tasks, precedences constraints, and event handlers you can build robust ETL processes.
Data Flow
The data flow component allows you to extract data from sources, transform the data as needed, and then load it into destination databases or files. You’ll use data flow components like source adapters to extract data, transformations to clean and modify the data, and destination adapters to load the data.
Control Flow
The control flow organizes and sequences data flow components into a logical workflow. It allows you to execute tasks in order, set conditions, and handle errors. Using control flow components like containers, tasks, precedences constraints, and event handlers you can build robust ETL processes.
Connection Managers
Connection managers allow you to connect to data sources, destinations, and files. SSIS supports connections to databases, files, FTP sites, SFTP sites, Azure Blob storage, and more. You’ll use connection managers in your data flows and control flows to specify the source and destination of your data.
