Data sources
As an administrator, you create data sources to store database connection information.
Data sources are classified by the types of databases that they represent.
| Data source | Database |
| Cloudant | Data is stored in Cloudant databases. |
| Relational | Data is stored in relational databases. |
| Multidimensional | Data is stored in multidimensional databases. |
| Hive | Data is stored in Apache Hive™ data warehouses. |
| Folder | Data is stored on the local file system. |
| Virtual | Data is stored in virtual and JavaScript tables. |
| JavaScript | Data is provided by online services. Data is stored in JavaScript tables. |
| Spark | Data is stored in Spark data warehouses. |
| QMF Data Service | Data is stored in tables on the QMF Data Service server. |
Except for folder data sources, when creating a data source, the first step is to select an availability type. If you create a shared data source, it will be stored in the repository to which you are currently created and available to all users. If you select to create a personal data source, it will be stored on your local file system. Personal data sources are available only to users who create them.
QMF supports cloud data sources, such as Amazon Athena, Amazon RedShift, and Snowflake. All QMF objects are supported with Amazon Athena, and Amazon RedShift, and Snowflake.
In most configuration scenarios, the person creating the connection to the database has an understanding of the authentication requirements for the data source.