Unloading data to cloud: Azure Blob Storage

Deployment options: Netezza Performance Server for Cloud Pak for Data SystemNetezza Performance Server for Cloud Pak for Data

You can unload data from a Netezza Performance Server database table on Netezza Performance Server to Azure Blob Storage. This unload does not remove rows from the database, but instead stores the unloaded data in a flat file (external table) that is suitable for loading back into a Netezza Performance Server database.

About this task

You can unload data to any of the supported Netezza Performance Server platforms, which include Azure Blob Storage. You can unload all data types (including Unicode) and file types (decompressed and compressed formats).

Unloading for the fixed-length format is not supported.

To create an external table, you must be the admin user or have the Create External Table administration privilege. You must also have permission to write to the path of the data object.

Procedure

  1. Create an external table by issuing the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE command with the REMOTESOURCE option.
    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE TABLE SAMEAS TABLE USING (
    DATAOBJECT DATAOBJECT
    REMOTESOURCE REMOTESOURCE
    DELIM DELIM
    UNIQUEID UNIQUEID
    AZACCOUNT AZACCOUNT
    AZKEY AZKEY
    AZREGION AZREGION
    AZCONTAINER AZCONTAINER
    AZBLOCKSIZEMB AZBLOCKSIZEMB
    AZMAXBLOCKS AZMAXBLOCKS
    AZLOGLEVEL AZLOGLEVEL 
    );
    Example:
    CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE emp_backup SAMEAS emp USING (
    DATAOBJECT ('/tmp/emp.dat')
    REMOTESOURCE 'AZURE'
    DELIM '|'
    UNIQUEID 'samplebackup'
    AZACCOUNT 'xxxxx'
    AZKEY 'xxxxx'
    AZREGION ‘eastus2’
    AZCONTAINER 'myContainer'
    AZBLOCKSIZEMB '50'
    AZMAXBLOCKS '1000'
    AZLOGLEVEL 'DEBUG’
    );
    The DATAOBJECT file specification must refer to a valid file on the cloud platform. For the REMOTESOURCE option, use AZURE.
    The table lists all the additional parameters, which are necessary if you want to use the REMOTESOURCE AZURE option.
    Option Distribution Description
    UNIQUEID Optional The namespace, which is used to group data in the cloud bucket.
    AZACCOUNT Mandatory The name of the Azure storage account.
    AZKEY Mandatory The Azure key to access your account.
    AZCONTAINER Mandatory The name of the Azure container.
    AZREGION Mandatory on 11.2.2.X

    Not supported on 11.2.1.X

    The name of the region of your Azure storage account. For a list of your regions, run the following command:
    az account list-locations --query [].[name] -o table
    AZMAXBLOCKS Optional Indicates the maximum number of blocks, which are allowed in a block blob. The default is 10000.
    AZBLOCKSIZEMB Optional The default is 25; maximum 100. This value is in MB. Indicates the size of a block. Data is written to cloud in blocks. Blocks are appended to form a blob.
    AZLOGLEVEL Optional The default is INFO. This is a log level to control logging verbosity. Other valid values are DEBUG, WARNING, and ERROR.
  2. Insert data from the external table into the table on the Netezza Performance Server host.
    INSERT INTO TABLE SELECT * FROM TABLE;
    Example:
    INSERT INTO emp SELECT * FROM emp_backup;