ADF Built-in copy task scenarios

The ADF has a buil-in Copy task. This is a very powerful tool. There are some projects where this tool alone did the major task.

In industry, here are some common scenarios where the Copy data tool is the best choice.

1. Copying Data Between Azure SQL Databases

You have two Azure SQL Databases, and you need to copy data from a table in the first database to a table in the second database. The schema is the same, and you want to transfer data regularly, such as every day.

Example Use Case:

Source: Azure SQL Database (Table: SalesData)
Destination: Azure SQL Database (Table: SalesDataBackup)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to set up a daily data copy job.

2. Copying Data from Azure Blob Storage to Azure SQL Database

You have CSV files stored in Azure Blob Storage and you need to load this data into a table in an Azure SQL Database.

Example Use Case:

Source: Azure Blob Storage (CSV file: customer_data.csv)
Destination: Azure SQL Database (Table: Customers)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to map the CSV columns to the SQL table columns and set up a regular copy job.

3. Copying Data from On-Premises SQL Server to Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS)

You have an on-premises SQL Server database and you need to copy data to Azure Data Lake Storage for further analysis.

Example Use Case:

Source: On-Premises SQL Server (Table: EmployeeRecords)
Destination: Azure Data Lake Storage (Folder: EmployeeData)
Steps: Set up a self-hosted integration runtime, then use the built-in copy task to move data from the on-premises server to ADLS.

4. Copying Data from One Azure Blob Storage Container to Another

You want to copy files from one container in Azure Blob Storage to another container, perhaps for archival purposes.

Example Use Case:

Source: Azure Blob Storage (Container: raw-data)
Destination: Azure Blob Storage (Container: archived-data)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to set up the copy job and configure it to run on a schedule.

5. Copying Data from Azure Table Storage to Azure SQL Database

You have data in Azure Table Storage and you want to migrate this data to an Azure SQL Database.

Example Use Case:

Source: Azure Table Storage (Table: Orders)
Destination: Azure SQL Database (Table: Orders)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to configure the source and destination, mapping the columns appropriately.

6. Copying Data from REST API to Azure SQL Database

You need to fetch data from a REST API and load it into an Azure SQL Database table.

Example Use Case:

Source: REST API (Endpoint: https://api.example.com/data)
Destination: Azure SQL Database (Table: ApiData)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to connect to the REST API, transform the JSON data as needed, and load it into the SQL table.

7. Copying Data from Azure Cosmos DB to Azure SQL Database

You have data in Azure Cosmos DB and need to transfer it to an Azure SQL Database for reporting purposes.

Example Use Case:

Source: Azure Cosmos DB (Collection: Users)
Destination: Azure SQL Database (Table: Users)
Steps: Use the built-in copy task to map the Cosmos DB documents to the SQL table columns.