SQL Server Data Virtualization: Querying External Data with PolyBase

Organizations today deal with massive amounts of data scattered across different platforms, making traditional data movement slow and expensive. Data virtualization solves this by allowing you to query external databases and object storage directly from your database engine. This text-only course guides you through the foundational concepts and practical setup of data virtualization in SQL Server. You will learn how to leverage PolyBase to read, join, and analyze external data sources—such as parquet files, delta tables, and remote databases—without the need for complex ETL pipelines. What you'll learn: - Understand the core concepts of data virtualization and how it differs from traditional ETL. - Configure PolyBase in SQL Server to establish secure connections to external data sources. - Query external data formats like CSV, Parquet, and Delta files stored in modern object storage. - Join relational tables inside SQL Server with external, non-relational datasets in a single query. - Apply best practices for performance tuning and security when working with virtualized data. You will start with essential definitions and architecture basics before moving on to step-by-step written guides for configuring external data sources, writing queries, and optimizing performance. This course is designed for beginner database administrators, data analysts, and developers who want to expand their SQL Server skills. No prior experience with PolyBase or data virtualization is required. Start reading today to unlock the power of modern data virtualization in your SQL Server environment.