Connecting to Data Warehouses in Tableau

Is it easy to connect to a data warehouse? Selecting the right tool can help make this connection attainable. Tableau Desktop makes this connection easy, from opening the software to connecting to the five selected data warehouses. Tableau uses the direct access functionality in data warehouses, enabling even the novice user the ability to create compelling stories in Tableau. The user can create a data extract of the visualization, or they can create a live connection. For Tableau, this is an excellent feature because depending on the network capabilities, an extract can be created in the visualization and hosted on the server.

Six of the most utilized data warehouse connections are Teradata, Oracle, Microsoft MS SQL Server, Cloudera, Hadoop, and Amazon Web Services-Redshift. Below are the basics needed to begin the journey into analyzing data within Tableau Desktop.

Teradata is a relational database and data warehouse system formulated to store and manage data. It is known for its shared nothing architecture(SN). SN is a form of distributed architecture that each node operates independently from each other. The key feature of this data warehouse is the ability to use multiple languages within a query to access data from various sources. It can analyze and store structured and multi-structured data in the same engine. Once you have opened Tableau, click on "Connect to a Server"; this option will be on the left side. Select (1)"More…" on the bottom of the server section, then connect to (2)Teradata. Next, the user will need to complete the following information to connect: (3)Server, (4)Username, and (5)Password.

1

Oracle is a high-performing data warehouse, used as an all-purpose consolidation server. This data warehouse is very secure and offers a unique solid multi-tenant data warehouse architecture. Another great feature is the in-memory data processing which speeds up performance when querying data. Select (1)"More…" on the bottom of the server section, then connect to (2)Oracle. To connect to the server a user will need the (3)Server Name, Service, (4)Username, and (5)Password.

2

Microsoft SQL Server has a bulk-data load feature with high OLAP querying, enabling fast connection speeds for the user and their data. This data warehouse offers the ability to work with cloud-based and on-premise servers simultaneously. Another excellent feature of this warehouse is the ability to track performance which can reduce resource usage issues. Select "More…" on the bottom of the server section, then connect to (1)Microsoft SQL Server. To connect the user needs All the user needs to connect is the (2)Server Name, (3)Username, and (4)Password.

3

Cloudera Hadoop uses parallel processing, which analyzes data at the source and across numerous servers. It provides strong security, it splits of files into blocks and performs fast parallel processing. Select (1)"More…" on the bottom of the server section, then connect to (2)Cloudera Hadoop. To connect, the user will need the (3)Server, Port, (4)Type, (5)Authentication, and (6)Transport.

4

Amazon Web Services-Redshift is a cloud-based data warehouse with petabyte-scale services and replication backups. Redshift architecture is scalable horizontally, so the user can just add more nodes as the business grows. It also offers storage mixing and matching, so the user can distribute storage by lowering the cost of adding more nodes. Select (1)"More…" on the bottom of the server section, then connect to (2)Amazon Redshift. To log in and connect, a user needs the (3)Server, (4)Database, Port, (5)Username, and (6)Password.

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 Tableau Desktop is one of the leading BI tools when it comes to connecting to data warehouses. The tool has the functionality to connect to multiple data warehouses so that the developer can stack data throughout their visualization. Data warehouses are meant to store various data summaries from multiple sources, an analyst might be concerned on how to connect to and combine this data into Tableau, but shouldn’t. Tableau’s combination of a simple interface connector and calculation speed sets it apart from most business intelligence tools on the market.  

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