OneLake in Microsoft Fabric: Its Importance

by HubSite 365 about Reza Rad (RADACAD) [MVP]

Data AnalyticsMicrosoft FabricLearning Selection

Unlock the power of analytics with Microsoft Fabrics OneLake - your unified, single storage solution to manage data effectively.

Microsoft OneLake, a component of the tech company's Fabric platform, is a logical storage layer designed to streamline and optimise data analytics. The Fabric platform itself offers a comprehensive suite of technologies, established to deliver analytics-as-a-service.

OneLake acts as the singular storage layer within Microsoft Fabric, centralising data storage and reducing organisational complications such as data duplication. The promise behind OneLake is one storage place, even across different branches of a company - hence its name.

The concept driving OneLake is to have one reservoir for data and as part of the Fabric ecosystem, it plays a crucial role in mitigating data management issues. With the ever-expanding nature of data, OneLake has been designed to serve as a unified data lake for an entire organisation, regardless of the domains and units.

The physical storage underpinning OneLake is Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2), where Microsoft Fabric's data elements are stored. This type of storage supports the automatic storage of computing engines' data, stores data in a single common open standard format - Delta Parquet, and can store various Fabric artifacts.

Understanding the Structure and Governance of Fabric and OneLake

The structure and governance of Fabric are based on principles similar to Power BI. Consequently, OneLake uses a similar structure for organising its objects. There are specific structural items like Workspaces and Domains for separating Fabric elements within this logical layer, with the foundational storage taking place in ADLS Gen2.

The overall aim of OneLake's design is to reduce data duplication. To this end, entities like Shortcuts and OneCopy make data available in other domains, under the same tenant, without the need for copying.

Accessing OneLake can be done in several ways. For instance, the OneLake Data hub in the Fabric Portal lets you find items stored in OneLake. Microsoft has also incorporated access directly via Windows Explorer with a downloadable OneLake file explorer. Another way to access OneLake is through the use of a URI or its API.

Beyond access, OneLake also provides security measures. In a model dubbed OneSecurity, security settings applied in OneLake will be followed by all workloads using its data - reducing the need to implement identical security protocols in each workload.

In summary, OneLake is Microsoft's initiative to provide a unified, singular data lake storage solution. It incorporates advanced features for managing, accessing, and securing data to facilitate optimised analytics.

Read the full article What is OneLake in Microsoft Fabric, and Why You Should Care

Learn about What is OneLake in Microsoft Fabric, and Why You Should Care

In our current age of data-driven decisions and applications, Microsoft Fabric's OneLake component presents a significant turning point. The need for a comprehensive understanding of this technology is now more critical than ever, particularly so for those in the field of data analytics or usage.

Microsoft Fabric: It is an all-embracing array of technologies which facilitate Analytics as a service. It incorporates a logical storage layer named OneLake, promising a unifying approach to data storage.
OneLake: Functioning as a Data Lake, it serves as a repository for maintaining data in its raw format. The concept of a Lake is to provide ONE place to keep all the data as opposed to having separate storage facilities, hence reducing data redundancy and easing management.
Importance of OneLake: As a logical storage, it ensures a single storage source for all the workloads in Fabric because all their data items are stored in OneLake. It has strategically positioned itself as one of the essential components of Microsoft Fabric.
Underlying Storage: The physical storage beneath OneLake is Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 (ADLS Gen2), a secured, refined, and scalable data lake service capable of handling big data analytics.

There are various training courses available to gain a deeper understanding of OneLake in Microsoft Fabric. These include:

Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2: This will provide an in-depth understanding of the storage used by OneLake.
Data Analytics and Business Intelligence with Microsoft Fabric: It covers Microsoft Fabric and its components, including OneLake.
Big Data and Data Lake Concepts: This course will explain the concepts and best practices related to Data Lake, which is essential to understanding OneLake.

Keep in mind that learning is most effective with a hands-on approach. Engage in demos, labs, or practical exercises of the above courses to understand the inner workings in a real-world environment. These courses offer more than just theory; they should provide an opportunity to implement what one learns in practice.

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