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6. Access your data

You'll connect Databricks to your organization's data sources in this section.

Prereqs: Data Governance Strategy

Why this matters​

Your workspaces, users, groups, and governance are set up. None of that helps until Databricks can actually reach your data. There are two ways in: direct access to cloud object storage, or ingestion from an external database or SaaS app. This section sets up both.

Journey checklist​

  • Get started.
  • Before you start.
  • Infra setup.
  • Cost monitoring.
  • Data Governance Strategy.
  • Access your data.
  • Build the first pipeline.
  • Automation and orchestration.
  • Query and explore.
  • Databricks AI/BI.
  • Business semantics.

How it works​

Every path runs through Unity Catalog. An S3 bucket or a PostgreSQL database, it does not matter: each connection is a UC object with its own permissions and audit trail. That is the whole point. You govern access in one place instead of chasing credentials scattered across notebooks.

Which path you take depends on where the data sits:

CategoryUse when
Cloud object storageYour data lives in S3, ADLS, or GCS and you need Databricks to read or write it directly
Databases and SaaS ingestionYou need to ingest data from external databases or SaaS platforms into UC tables

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