Thank you very much . Hello , welcome to Microsoft Community Insight Podcast , where we share insights from community experts to stay up to date in Microsoft . My name is Nicholas and I'll be your host today . In this podcast , we will dive into Microsoft Fabric and data analytics using AI .
But before we get started , I want you to follow us on social media so you never miss an episode . It helps us reach more amazing people like yourself . Today we have a special guest called Javier Villegas . Sorry if I pronounce it wrong . Could you please introduce yourself please ?
Hi Nicolas . Thank you for the introduction . Happy to be here . Thank you for the invitation . My name is Javier Villegas . I am from Buenos Aires , argentina . I work with SQL Server and Data Platform since many years . I'm Microsoft MVP in the Data Platform category and well , today we're're gonna be talking a little bit about microsoft fabric okay , cool .
So could you explain to us , like , what do you do on daily basics , like as a data platform , whether it's at work or as mvp ?
yeah , I mean , uh , my background is mainly sql server . I I started background is mainly SQL server . I started with SQL server 6.5 more than 30 years ago . So I've been through every single version migration , on-premise clusters , cloud , etc . And now switching basically not switching but combining with this new analytic tool , microsoft Fabric .
So it's mainly everything related to the Microsoft Data Platform stack . I also part of a bunch of community from other data by station , but mainly focus on the Microsoft Stack .
Do you use Massacuff Fabric at work or just SQL ?
mainly . No , absolutely . I use Fabric on a daily basis . As MVP , we have the possibility to have early access to Microsoft Fabrics , so we've been testing it myself . Personally , I've been testing it since a couple of years actually , and well , nowadays I'm using it for mission-critical analytic workflow .
Okay , brilliant . Before we dive into the fabric , we just want to start with the very basics . So what's Microsoft Fabric and what's the key components of it ?
Okay , well , let's start from the beginning with a little bit of history . Right , as I said , a couple of years ago it was presented as a private preview for the data platform community right as a whole .
Basically , because the key , let's say , factor of Microsoft Fabric is that it's SaaS , right , Software as a service , Meaning that you connect to Fabric through the portal and you don't have to leave it . You don't need any piece of software , you don't need any virtual machine , anything .
You can do any analytical solution and we're going to dive into this through the conversation from end to end . We can ingest data from any source on-premise cloud , even different clouds . We can storage and process this data and we can create the dashboards and reports with Power BI . So that's mainly the most important thing .
Back in 2023 , it was presented as public review and in 2000 , sorry , 2022 , in 2023 , during Ignite at the end of the year , it was presented as general availability , so everybody was able to jump into it . Microsoft is giving away a lot of trial periods , so you know you want to get involved .
If you would like to start testing and doing proof of concept of your own things , right , you can do it kind of for free , right ? So that is super cool , right ? One of the big difference also of this is , since it is a platform as a service , a software as a service , offering , right , and , as I said , you don't have to install anything to start with .
If you have a project or if you have something that you would like to validate , in the past , you had to buy the hardware , get the software , do this addition , spend some money , big money , actually to do the setup , basically to validate what you would like to do .
Right , that's going to take time , effort and money , right , and then let's say , after a while , you were ready to deploy your project , right , and you should be back in the days quite careful to measure the hardware that you need for your environment very well .
Otherwise , if you run out of resources processing power , storage , whatever you have to go to the vendor and buy . With a SaaS solution like this , which you can scale at any time . You can put whatever you need as a concept .
In five minutes , and let's say no more than a day , you may have your validation ready to go , and , as I said , for free , completely free right and when it's ready you can just move it to production and go to a paid offer .
So is there no cost involved , because you mentioned free ?
Mm-hmm , you have 60 days trial . There are some minor things that you won't be , able to use , for example , copilot . But , as I defined it at the beginning , you will be able to ingest data , process and store data and create your Power BI report . With that you can do the validation of what you need to do .
Let's say that you have to do an analytical project , for example , a normal data warehouse , right that way , you get your data from multiple sources on premise or sources in the cloud . You don't need any connector right From what is called .
You know the pipelines on the ingestion part for fabric , you connect and you get it right away For the storage part , you know , and that part of the ingestion let me go back a second is what it used to be . Let's say , let me go back a second is what it used to be .
Let's say , this component in Azure that we used to have , which is the pipeline , right , data factory , right . So Fabric actually is something that is new as a concept , but it's not new in terms of the component . What do I say this ?
Because before Fabric right , microsoft having the data platform in Azure , you had Data Factory to create your pipelines and get the data from multiple sources .
You had Azure Synapse Analytics where you can , you know , store the data using Synapse and process using T-SQL or even using Spark or Scala , and then you have Power BI to connect to the Synapse thing and present your report . That was available , as I said , but if you think about it , it was a little bit complex to set up all these in place .
Why I'm saying so ? Because you know that in Azure you have to do all the connectivity , the wiring , the security . So you have three different services Data Factory , synapse and Power BI . You have to involve your system team to generate the networking , do all the links , et cetera , et cetera .
Right , then another thing is that for the billing , you have to pay for the usage of the Data Factory pipeline , you have to pay for what you spin off in Synapse , even if it was a serverless or a dedicated pool , and then Power BI . So the bidding was really really complicated .
Besides that , synapse used to have well , actually still have , because in fact this is still alive it has its own proprietary storage format from Microsoft . It was from Microsoft . So now in public you can do exactly the same right All in one box . You don't need to involve any connectivity because it's all the same .
The ingestion , the storage and processing and the end result with Power BI and the billing is way more simple because you have capacity . You have multiple capacities that you will choose , so you pay for that capacity . So at the end of the month you know what you're gonna pay . Yeah , it sounds like it's .
It sounds like it's all in one solution , that you just use that integrated data factory synapse and so you just go in one portal of like Max and Fabric .
Way more simple than everything . Another interesting thing portal of like Max and Fabric Way more simple than before . All right In all senses . Another interesting thing of Microsoft Fabric is the way to storage the data . I just mentioned that in Synapse , Microsoft has its own proprietary storage format for the data .
Now in Fabric , Microsoft has switched to an open standard of Delta parquet , right , so doing so , it's way more easy to interact with other solutions , right , Because it's using an open standard .
Let me tell you something more .
Within Fabric , there is this component which is called OneLay , right , which is the storage part that you can use to have your data in right and share the data with different projects within the Fabric solution , right ? This is just to do a simple comparison . This is like in Microsoft 365 , in Microsoft Office , right ?
You have multiple components , like Word , excel , powerpoint , and you have one drive to store all the components and share it within . This is this similar concept , right , but for within Fabi One leg . You get the data , you store it and you can share the data with multiple projects without having to do any data duplication .
That is super important because if you go back in time to where we used to have the on-premise solution , you know the on-premise solution . Let's say that within your company , you have your data set and you need to share it with a different area on your company , right ?
You have to make a copy , and you know what happens when you do , when you have two copies of the link and you cannot trust any of them , right ?
So it's quite important to have a single one . Just in case no one's aware of it , what's OneLake ? Onelake In this case , no one's aware of it .
What's One Lake ? One Lake is this storage component within a fabric , in where you store the data that you get from the different sources . Right , using Delta Parquet as a storage format , right ? So let's say , we will see in a minute when I present it .
Right , yeah , in the storage part , right , you will be able to create multiple data storage , for example , a data warehouse , which is mainly to have relational data tables , foreign key relationship , et cetera , and you can use mainly Transact SQL to work with this .
You can also create a data lake , which is basically to store any kind of data relational , semi-relational and with no schema at all . You can put files , you can put multiple . You know JSON files , for example . You can also create tables , if you want right , and everything is at the top of one layer , right .
You can also create another kind of databases , like , for example , kusto for real-time analytics . You can also store your tabular model , right , like in analysis services , and you know the internal format to store the data . Here is now delta part k . All , right , one leg also has this ability to uh , I mean , it's not only one .
Like this fabric as a whole , there is this component which is called shortcuts , what you can do with shortcuts . Mainly , let's say that your company has certain data in a different cloud provider . Let's call it AWS or Google , right ? Or even your own RAM data center , right ?
So instead of copying the data from the external cloud into OneLake , you create a shortcut and you reference that table or that data from outside without having to copy , right ? So within your project right .
Let's say that you write a notebook with spot and you need to combine data from multiple sources something that is in your local length of your warehouse and through a shortcut to , for example , data in AWS . You can do it without data duplication and super fast . So this is a nice component within the cloud .
Yeah , that's quite sweet . So , regarding to like the HFAP data like Microsoft Fabric , is there any use cases ? That is very good at like that . You use that work .
Yeah , absolutely you can do , as I mentioned , a traditional data warehouse right . You can also use it for data engineering right To you know , get data . Let's say you have events coming from sensors through Azure events app or real time analytics right .
You have a component which is the hub that will get those inputs right in real time and you can do your analytic at the top of it , right . For example , let's say that you have a solution that is constantly sending information about temperatures right , so you're gonna get this online right .
And then , at the top of it , you can put the power bi report , which now is part of fabric right and you can do your dashboard with the real-time data right .
Does it work with App Insight as well ?
Actual App Insight yeah you can connect to App Insight through Gusto , for example , and get this real quick . So I mean there are a lot of possibilities through Fabric .
Recently , microsoft has announced actually not so long ago , during the last Microsoft Ignite right , they also have announced the possibility of creating an actual they call it SQL database on Fabric right , so besides creating a lake house or a data warehouse , right , you can create a SQL database on fabric right , so , besides creating a lake house or a data warehouse
, right , you can create a SQL database and you can use your T-SQL knowledge to create store procedure functions , trigger right and store your relational operational data within FAB , which is super interesting . Right , that data is constantly replicating , or mirroring as we call it , into one leg .
Right , and you can use this data to do analytics on your operational data without impacting the performance on your operational data . Let's say that you have an application for your clients your sales right and you have the stocks and the sales .
Right , and you have your application working , creating , doing insert , update , delete on the SQL tables In near real time . Those insert , updates , delete will be synchronized into one lake and , again , you can create a Power BI dashboard at the top of it to have your analytics based on real time data . Back in the base .
We used to have what is called ETL right Extraction Transformation Load , so we connect to the operational data source once an hour , once every six hour , once a day , depending on our logic . We duplicate the data into it right , and then we build the analytic at the top of it , right ? So it was not real time .
We had to wait every time that we run this EDL . Now you have the possibility to do it also with real time data from operational data sources Now with SQL Server . In the future , this might be other engines , so it's another flavor of SQL , now in power . You know that SQL is actually the part I love the most .
You have the SQL Server , you have Azure SQL with Azure SQL Database and managed instance , and now you have this offering . So , as I said at the beginning , this is an end-to-end solution .
It sheds the data from any source as you saw all the many sources that are available , right , store it in one lake through the lake of data warehouse or even a database , and then create your Power BI report to connect to it and show the dashboard , right ? So it's all you need , okay , and , as we saw , in a minute without leaving the report .
Yeah , how can people get access to this fabric ? Is it just through the website ?
first of all you have to be through the uh , you have to have a , a , an entry and a group right and then , or you can assign the , the permission at the capacity level and at the workspace level .
Let's say , I go back to my workspace , here , workspace01 , I go here to manage access right and here I choose who can connect to the warehouse or the components underneath right .
So you can define a group here or individual accounts . That's brilliant . So how can someone get started with Fabric , Is it ? What's the best places for people to learn about it if they want to learn more ?
Yeah , microsoft is pushing hard on Microsoft Fabric . So the starting point is akams backslash Fabric . That's the starting point in where you can go to the option to create your trial in where you can be redirected to the Microsoft Learn page .
In the Microsoft Learn page there is a nice concept called Learn Together Microsoft Fabric Edition , where that was delivered back in January , february 2024 . There were like nine episodes in where it was covering everything in Fabric the basis ingestion , lake house data , warehouse , notebooks , real-time analytics , etc . Etc .
Nine different episodes in English and in Spanish . It is available in YouTube , right ? So you have all the training you need . Recently we did also one quite similar for SQL databases in Fabric . Right , there are a bunch of webinars , there are books . There are a bunch of webinars , there are books . So all the resources that you need are akamsbacklashfabric .
Microsoft also has created a certification for Fabric the DP600 . And where several sessions on this Microsoft Learn Together initiative . We're also focusing on the exam , the DP600 exam . So there is a certification which is shared and available the DP600 .
Recently , microsoft is promoting a new one , which is still not fully available , which is the DP700 , which is more targeting to data engineering within Fabric . So a ton of resources , free right . So you can even get several initiatives to complete training , and when you complete the training , you even gonna get discounts for the certification exam .
So super cool , uh . So , if you are into the data analytics , if you would like to , you know , validate your needs , your project , in a matter of minutes you have everything you need in here .
So let's talk a bit more about the community , the data community . So I know , aside from like certifications , you can just network and be involved with the community . Can you explain more about the different community that they have in data ?
Yeah , absolutely . So . You know myself , I'm from Argentina , south America . My main language is Spanish . Right , we have our own user group , sql Argentina , and where we cover the Microsoft Data Platform stack , sql , azure , sql and now Fabric as well . There are multiple initiatives like that all around the world .
There is also something quite interesting , which is the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference . Last year , microsoft did the first edition in March in Las Vegas and then at the end of the year , the same one in Europe . So now they are also promoting the Microsoft Fabric Community event for early April 2025 .
That's going to be the second edition in where you can learn from experts from Microsoft . You can learn from MVPs , right , and this is a community event . It's not free , definitely right , but it's the way to go . If you want to engage with the community and you want to learn more about public , right , you can do workshop on end-to-end presentation .
If you are focusing in in machine learning , there's going to be workshop targeting machine learning . Same for databases and so on and so forth , right so it's the main place to to go .
Is that the one that calls fabricon or something ? Is that the one that calls Fabricon ?
or something Fabcom .
Fabcom . Okay , did , you went there no no , no , no .
I had some other work related activities and actually , if you remember , last year was quite close to the MVP Summit , so I went to the MVP Summit instead . Yeah , because I think it's very too close in . March , sometimes in April yeah , after the MVP summit .
So that's good . So you get to go to Vegas if it's April anyway . So because you live nearby , you live in the state yeah , I mean , unfortunately I have to .
You know , just choose one . And and you know , to me I prepared the mvp summit . I definitely have in my , my to-do list . Uh , maybe for the one in europe at the end of the year , I don't know . But but in the us , the first , first one I will be going . I have part of my team that went there .
Some of them went to the first one in Las Vegas , some others to the one in Estacón for the Europe edition and they were super happy . They learned a lot . We use it on a daily basis , as I said , for production , analytic projects , right , so mission critical and well , we definitely rely a lot on all our analytics in Microsoft Parc .
Yeah , so aside from like communities and your work , what do you do ? Do you have any hobbies in your spare time or you just do community ?
Well , one of my hobbies is definitely community activities , right .
Yeah , same .
I like to go to different events in person , mainly to network with my friends and colleagues . But besides the technology part , I'm a dad . I have two sons , which I love a lot , and I do play tennis right . That is the way I keep my , my physique more or less into shape , uh , but mainly my , my head okay , that's brilliant .
Uh , so , before we close off this episode , I just wanted to find out are you we just made , are you going to any other events nearby in the future ? Or remember you talk about you're going to your vp summit . Is that the only one that you're going to ?
No , I normally go to the PaaS Summit in Seattle . This is a community event from the PaaS community . Paas is Professional Association of SQL Server . It's not a Microsoft event but since it is in Seattle , microsoft engineers go to it and they normally announce a bunch of things related to SQL and now related to all the Azure and Fabric stack .
So those are my main events MVP Summit and the PaaS Summit and hopefully in the future also the FAFCon . Part of my team in Europe will also be going to SQL Beats . That this year is in June . I won't be going there . So yeah , I mean I'd love to be engaged with the community network learn . You know I love to be engaged with the community network learn .
You know . The main phrase of the past community that I'm part of is connect , learn and share . Right ? So definitely , this is something I'm trying to do all the time .
Yeah , that's quite . It looks like an interesting and fun community . The past one , yeah . So thanks for joining this episode , javier . Yeah , it looked like an interesting and fun community the past one , absolutely yeah . So thanks for joining this episode , javier . It's a pleasure having you . So it's in a few weeks it's going to be on social media .
Stay tuned for the next episode . Thank you , bye , thank you , bye , bye .