--- title: Export Data from SQL Server to Azure Based Snowflake description: Read this blog to understand how to extract and interpret data from Microsoft SQL Server, prepare and load Microsoft SQL Server data into Snowflake, and keep it up-to-date? image: https://blog.e-zest.com/hubfs/blog-files/Export%20data%20from%20SQL%20server%20to%20Azure%20based%20Snowflake-181220.png --- [![e-Zest logo\_An accion lab company\_Colour](https://blog.e-zest.com/hubfs/images/Logos%20with%20Tagline/Corporate/SVG/e-Zest%20logo_An%20accion%20lab%20company_Colour.svg "e-Zest logo_An accion lab company_Colour")](https://www.e-zest.com/) - [WORK](https://www.e-zest.com/our-work) - [SERVICES](https://www.e-zest.com/our-services) - [Product Engineering](https://www.e-zest.com/digital-product-engineering-services) - [Enterprise Data Services](https://www.e-zest.com/enterprise-data-services) - [Digital Commerce](https://www.e-zest.com/digital-commerce-services) - [Digital Operations](https://www.e-zest.com/digital-operations) - [Digital Consulting](https://www.e-zest.com/digital-transformation-consulting-services) - [Digital Experience Design](https://www.e-zest.com/digital-experience-design) - [INSIGHTS](https://blog.e-zest.com/) - [CAREERS](https://www.e-zest.com/careers) - [ENTERPRISE DATA SERVICES](https://www.e-zest.com/enterprise-data-services) - [GENERATIVE AI](https://www.e-zest.com/generative-ai) - [Healthcare](https://healthcare.e-zest.com) - [Contact Us](https://www.e-zest.com/contact-us) - ![Elevating Product Engineering with AI and ML](https://blog.e-zest.com/hubfs/Elevating%20Product%20Engineering%20with%20AI%20and%20ML.jpg) [BLOGS](https://blog.e-zest.com) #### Elevating Product Engineering with AI and ML As technology evolves and customer choices broaden, there is an increasing ... 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SSMS by default doesn’t provide the option to use Azure blob as the destination for the exported data. To use the Azure Blob as the destination you need to install the [Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services Feature pack for Azure](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49492). **Export the data to Azure blob in Avro format** - Create a blob container on Azure where the exported files will be stored. - Select Azure Blob Destination as the destination for the export in SSMS. - Provide the Storage account name and account key for connecting to Azure Blob - Choose the blob container as the export location. - **Choose AVRO as the blob file format.** If data is exported in delimited files there can be challenges around the delimited field being present in the data, NULL data values being exported as empty fields etc. Snowflake COPY command provides support for AVRO files, so it is recommended to export the data in AVRO format to avoid these challenges. - Select the table to be exported or write a custom query to export the data. ![sql-server-import-and-export-wizard](https://blog.e-zest.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog-files/sql-server-import-and-export-wizard.png?width=600&name=sql-server-import-and-export-wizard.png) **Step 2: Bulk load the data from Azure to Snowflake using the COPY command** Once the data is exported to Azure blob, the data can be copied from Azure blob to Snowflake using the COPY command. Below are the steps to use the COPY command - Create the corresponding tables in the Snowflake database - [Create a file format that uses all the default AVRO format options](https://docs.snowflake.net/manuals/sql-reference/sql/create-file-format.html): CREATE OR REPLACE FILE FORMAT my\_avro\_format TYPE = AVRO; - [Create an external stage](https://docs.snowflake.net/manuals/user-guide/data-load-azure-create-stage.html): CREATE OR REPLACE STAGE my\_azure\_stage URL='azure://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/load/files' CREDENTIALS=(AZURE\_SAS\_TOKEN='MY SAS token')FILE\_FORMAT = my\_avro\_format; - [Copy the data from Azure stage to Snowflake using the Avro parsing capabilities provided by Snowflake:](https://docs.snowflake.net/manuals/user-guide/data-load-azure-copy.html) COPY INTO mytable FROM (select $1:column1, $1:column2, … $1:columnN From @my\_azure\_stage) FILE\_FORMAT = (FORMAT\_NAME = my\_avro\_format);  *Make sure the order of the columns in the ‘select from stage’ statement matches the order of the columns in the target Snowflake table.* **Recommendations** - Use AVRO as the file format for the Azure blob to avoid data problems during import. - The performance of other queries may be impacted if the volume of data is too large. To avoid any impact of production queries, it is better to create a backup of the database on a separate machine and use this backup for the export. - Use nolock while exporting the data. This will avoid lock on the tables while the data is being exported and will also result in faster export of the data. - Install SSMS either on the same machine which has the SQL Server instance or on a machine which is in the same network of the SQL Server. - If the data volume is too large, export data in batches using custom SQL queries. - - - ### Similar Blog ## [![REST Authentication using OAUTH 2.0 Resource Owner Password Flow protocol](https://blog.e-zest.com/hs-fs/file-3586009710-jpg/blog-files/resource-owner-password-flow.jpg) REST Authentication using OAUTH 2.0 Resource Owner Password Flow protocol Introduction In this blog we will look at how to perform authentication for an application exposing its functionalities as Rest ... 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