Documents
Data Warehouse ETL Framework
Data Warehouse ETL Framework
  • Introduction To The ETL Framework
  • Framework Overview
    • Framework Description
    • Why You Need An ETL Framework
      • What is the ETL Framework?
      • Framework Objectives
      • Can I use my own resources to implement The Framework?
    • Download The Framework
    • What's In The Box
    • v1.0 Release
    • Training Resources For Engineers
    • Getting Help
  • General Principles
    • Never Finished
    • Overall Engineering Philosophy
    • Self Service Analytics As The Goal
    • Strict Adherence To Globally Accepted Practice
    • Data Flow Design
    • Effective DataOps
    • Code First Philosophy
    • Melding Kimball And Inmon
    • Master Data Management
    • Open Architecture
    • Decoupled Systems
    • Independent Identically Executing Processes
    • Robust Processes
    • Self-Diagnostics
    • Data Provenance
    • Adverse Reporting
    • Error Recovery
    • Archrival And Recovery
    • Documentation As A Necessity
  • DataOps For The Uninitiated
    • DataOps Initiation
    • What Is Agile Software Development?
    • What Is DevOps?
    • What Is Statistical Process Control?
    • You Take All That And You Wind Up With...
    • The DataOps Manifesto
    • Want To Learn More About DataOps?
  • ETL Developer's Field Guide
    • The Plain English Explanation Of What You Are About To Build
    • Data Warehouse User Profiles
    • Using Data Source Names
    • Why You Should Not Use SSIS
      • SSIS Is Not Forward Compatible
      • SSIS Is Not Very Performant
      • Python Development Is Faster Than SSIS
      • SSIS Is Difficult To Deploy To Production
      • SSIS Is Difficult To Maintain
    • Python Software Engineering Considerations
    • Enterprise Data Ecosystem
      • EDW's Place In Enterprise Architecture
      • EDW ETL Overview
    • ETL Environment Databases
    • Data Acquisition Paradigms
      • Demand Pull
      • Supply Push
    • The Common Model
    • The Semantic Layer
    • Database Object Naming Conventions
      • Columns
      • Indexes
      • Primary Keys
      • Schemas
      • Stored Procedures
      • Tables
      • User Defined Functions
    • ETL Reference Architecture
    • Table Anatomy
      • Sample Dimension Table
      • Sample Fact Table
      • Sample Indexed View
      • Sample Junk Dimension Table
      • Sample Master Data Management Table
      • Sample Stage Table
    • Master Data Management
      • MDM With Exact Match On Source System Key
      • Implementation Details
    • Slowly Changing Dimension Processing
      • General Process
      • Creating Empty Records
      • SCD Processing Types
      • Implementing SCDs As Temporal Tables
    • Handling Calculated Values
    • Warehouse Load Commandments
    • Code Style Guide
      • SSIS
      • Transact SQL
      • Python
      • C#
    • The Role Of Schemas
      • Standard Schemas And Their Definitions
      • Schemas As A Security Device
      • Schemas As A DB Object Differentiator
    • Feedback And Control Systems
      • Having An Engineering Mindset
      • The Mechanics Of Checking For Unprocessed Records
      • Time Series Analysis 101
      • Passive Monitoring System Design Theory
      • Passive Monitoring System Implementation
    • Source Control
    • Loading Historical Data
    • Security Access Model
    • Wrapping Up
  • ETL Environment Set Up
    • Install Anaconda
    • Create Initial Source Control Folders
    • Create Primary Databases And Schemas
    • Customize And Run Deployment Scripts
    • Install Python Packages
    • Create Data Source Name
    • Create The SSIS Catalogue
    • Create The File I/O Directory Structure
    • Create Global Environment In The Integration Services Catalog
    • Create The SQL Server Aliases
    • Create The BIAnalytics Proxy Account
    • Create The Opt Folder
    • Configure Email Alerts
  • Standard SSIS ETL Development Package
    • Starting A New Process
    • Tracking Package Variables
    • Remove Things You Do Not Need
    • Creating New Configuration Settings
  • Sample Script Guide
    • SQL
      • Finalize And Audit Scripts
        • 18 CREATE PROC usp_RecordRowCounts
        • 19 CREATE PROC usp_MarkRecordsAsProcessed
        • 20 CREATE PROC usp_CheckForUnprocessedRecords
      • Monitoring Scripts
        • 21 CREATE PROC usp_DisplayTablesNotLoading
        • 22 CREATE PROC usp_LoadTableLoadReportingTable
        • 23 CREATE PROC usp_TableLoadMonitoring
      • Table Object Sample Scripts
        • sample type I dimension table
        • sample type II dimension table
        • sample fact table
        • sample indexed view
        • sample junk dimension table
        • sample master data management table
        • sample stage table
      • Data Processing Sample Scripts
        • Data Pull
        • batch processing
        • bulk insert
        • data cleansing
        • fact table load
        • remove dups
        • type I dimension processing
        • type II dimension processing
      • Helper Scripts
        • Create Database
        • add rowhash
        • change collation
        • configuration insert sample script
        • documentation block
        • populate fact table with fake data
        • proc execution scripts
        • show all columns in database
        • troubleshooting
        • util
        • start an agent job from T-SQL
    • Python
      • Building Blocks
        • CombineCSVsIntoOneFile
        • ConvertCommaToPipeDelimitedFile
        • ConvertExcelToCSV
        • LoopingOverFilesInADirectory
        • Process Zip File
        • QueryDatabaseAndWriteSmallFile
        • QueryDatabaseAndWriteLargeFile
        • SendEmail
        • StringMatching
        • YAMLConfigImport
      • Full Solutions
        • DownloadMoveAndStoreDataCSV
        • LoadLargeCSVsIntoDataWarehouseStagingTables
        • MoveAndStoreDataExcel
        • ReloadFromArchive
      • Jupyter Notebooks
        • Passive Monitoring System Design Theory
    • PySpark
      • ConnectToSpark
      • LoadCSV
      • ExampleDataProcessing
    • Windows Batch
  • A Methodology To Rapidly Convert OLTP Databases to OLAP Solutions
    • Step 1: Find The Nouns
    • Step 2: Find The Stuff We Want To Do Math On
    • Step 3: Analyze Relationships
  • Data Model Creation Tool
    • Record Count
    • Sample Data
    • Create Stage Table
    • Char Length Analysis
    • Column Notes
    • Column Cleansing Notes
    • Source To Target Mapping
    • Dimension List
    • Fact Table Creation Helper
    • Foreign Key Creation
    • Process Fact Script Helper
    • View Creation Helper
    • Date Role Play View Helper
    • Data Model View Creation Helper
    • List Population Values
  • Performance Monitoring
    • The Daily Chore
    • Diagnostic Tools
      • Using The Built-In Stored Procs
      • Using The Built-In Views
    • Logging Database Diagram
  • Data Warehouse Troubleshooting Guide
    • Generalized Troubleshooting Steps
  • Business Analytics Capability Maturity Model
    • What Is A Business Analytics Capability Maturity Model?
    • Level 0. Operational Reporting
    • Level 1. Rapid Delivery
    • Level 2. Self Service
    • Level 3. Central Repository
    • Level 4. Open Data 1
    • Level 5. Open Data 2
    • Level 6. Feedback 1
    • Level 7. Data Archaeology
    • Level 8. Crystal Ball
    • Level 9. Feedback 2
    • Level 10. Oil Rig
    • Level 11. The Singularity
  • Appendices
    • Appendix A. What is Medium Data®?
    • Appendix B. The Benefits Of Using Python And T-SQL Over SSIS For ETL
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  1. ETL Developer's Field Guide
  2. Why You Should Not Use SSIS

SSIS Is Difficult To Deploy To Production

The key to easy deployment actually has nothing to do with code versus point and click. The key is server configuration. Five things need to happen.

  1. A DSN needs set up on all boxes that are for data warehouse work. This DSN needs to be identical on all boxes.

  2. Linked servers need to be set up between the data warehouse box and all internal sources of data.

  3. SQL Server Aliases need to be set up. The alias names should all be the same across all boxes.

  4. Create global environment in the Integration Services Catalog.

  5. All data warehouse related databases should have the exact same name on all boxes.

Are you catching the theme here? Do stuff so that you do not have to make changes to code or packages as you promote things from dev to production. Do that, and you are halfway there living on a prayer that your ETL process is easy to deploy.

Ease of deployment is critical to meeting service level agreements (SLAs). I frequently work under the SLA of, “It’s broken. Fix it yesterday”, so I cannot mess around with difficult to deploy code. Deploying T-SQL and Python is much easier than deploying a package.

First of all, there is no ease of deployment with SSIS even if you do everything I mentioned above. In order to deploy SSIS packages, you have to configure the IDE to deploy your package to the proper server. That is not fun. You have to set up different profiles for each box and the entire process is a pain.

Actually deploying your package is an equal pain. You have to make sure you are in the right profile, then you have to navigate to the proper catalogue. All that is cool if you are pushing to prod one time. If you have to push to dev or test multiple times before things start working right, you will wind up pulling your hair out. People think I shave my head. Nope. Just years of developing ETL with SSIS.

Why do you need to push to dev/test so many times? Fun fact. Your package may run fine in the IDE, but bomb on the server. There are several reasons this might happen so it is not just like you can make a configuration change to the server and fix it. No, you have to wait till it happens, then you have to solve your particular scenario. Mostly, it is a permissions issue. Mostly.

You know how you push changes to existing T-SQL and Python code through different servers?

Python Deployment Process

  1. Copy scripts to proper folder on server.

  2. There is no step 2.

T-SQL Deployment Process

  1. Change connection in SSMS.

  2. Hit F5.

  3. Make a video on TikTok because you have that kind of free time now.

It is not even an argument. Python and T-SQL are orders of magnitude easier to deploy than SSIS packages.

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Last updated 4 years ago