Introduction to the Azure data platform

The Azure data platform provides us with a number of data services for databases, data storage, and analytics. In Table 1.1, you can find a list of services and their purpose:

Table 1.1 – Azure data platform services

Using the Azure data platform services can help you build a modern analytics solution that is secure and scalable. The following diagram shows an example of a typical modern cloud analytics architecture:

Figure 1.1 – Modern analytics solution architecture

You can find most of the Azure data platform services here. ADF is a core service for data movement and transformation.

Let's learn more about the reference architecture in Figure 1.1. It starts with source systems. We can collect data from files, databases, APIs, IoT, and so on. Then, we can use Event Hubs for streaming data and ADF for batch operations. ADF will push data into Azure Data Lake as a staging...