Data Cataloging and Metadata Management

In the world of data engineering, managing metadata is essential for maintaining the integrity of the data and ensuring that it can be used effectively by various stakeholders. In Azure Data Factory, metadata management is achieved through data cataloging. In this lesson, we’ll explore the concept of data cataloging and how it can be used in Azure Data Factory.

What is data cataloging?

Data cataloging is a process of creating a centralized metadata repository to discover, understand, and manage an organization’s data assets. It involves capturing, organizing, and sharing metadata, including information about data sources, datasets, schemas, lineage, and usage. The data catalog provides a single point of access for data discovery and exploration, allowing users to search for and understand the available data assets within an organization.

Metadata management is a good practice for productionizing data and machine learning pipelines because cataloged data points provide faster access to queries. This lesson is intended to give important information about these general practices of storing data that is eventually used by Azure Data Factory pipelines.

Metadata management in ADF

Metadata management in Microsoft Azure refers to managing and maintaining metadata, or data about data, to improve the understanding, quality, and usability of data assets. Metadata provides context and information about the data, such as its source, format, and relationships to other data, which is essential for effective data management, governance, and analytics.

Azure Data Catalog

The Azure Data Catalog is a service that allows users to discover, register, and consume data sources. It is a cloud-based, enterprise-wide metadata catalog that provides a single place to discover, understand, and manage all of an organization’s data assets. Users can create a catalog of data sources, including databases, files, and APIs, and add metadata information such as descriptions, tags, and owners.

Creating a data catalog in Azure Data Factory Studio

Note: Azure Data Catalog is a service only available to work or school accounts. Personal email accounts signed in to Microsoft Azure cannot create data catalogs.

To create a data catalog in Azure Data Factory, follow these steps:

1. Create an Azure Data Catalog account: To create a new Azure Data Catalog account, go to the Azure Portal and search for “Data Catalog.” ...