Linked Services

In Azure Data Factory, one of the first steps in building a pipeline is to establish connections to your data sources and destinations. These connections are defined using Linked Services, which act as the bridge between ADF and the data you need to work with.

For example, if your pipeline needs to move data from Azure Blob Storage to Azure SQL Database, you'll create three Linked Services: one for Azure Blob Storage, one for Azure SQL Database and one for Key Vault to store credentials.

Why Are Linked Services Important?

• Centralized Connection Management: instead of specifying connection details repeatedly, you define them once and reuse them across multiple datasets and activities;
• Secure access: credentials and sensitive information are securely stored and can be encrypted or integrated with Azure Key Vault for enhanced security;
• Flexibility: ADF supports over 90 different Linked Services, enabling seamless integration with diverse systems, including cloud-based, on-premises, and SaaS platforms.