Azure Data Catalog Overview

Azure Data Catalog is a basic, centralized, hosted registry of enterprise data sources designed to simplify registering, documenting, and sharing approved data sources with developers and data analysts. Users find data sources via the Data Catalog portal using search and filtering features (shown here).

Overview

The typical steps in using Data Catalog are the following:

Registration. Approved users register data sources (schema and metadata) via a free downloadable registration tool, a Web portal, or programmatically via a RESTful API. Users can register on-premises, hosted, and local data sources provided they have access rights to the data source because the service queries the underlying data source to read the schema. The data is not moved to the service; only a copy of its schema, descriptive metadata, and location are stored in Data Catalog. The registering user’s credentials are not stored in the service.

Annotation. A data source’s schema and metadata can be annotated by approved users with knowledge of them, a process often called gathering tribal knowledge. This effort can improve the quality and relevance of the data source documentation for other users and relieve IT departments of a maintenance burden. Annotation features also include a hierarchical glossary of approved terms that can be used to consistently describe data within an organization.