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In the ever-evolving world of data storage and management, one cannot underestimate the importance of SQL Server External Tables and Azure Blob Storage. With SQL Server 2022, Azure SQL, Microsoft Fabric, Delta Lake, OpenAI + SQL, and Databricks, we can create a robust and flexible data storage system. This blog post will walk you through the process of setting up SQL Server External Tables with Azure Blob Storage while integrating these advanced technologies.

Let's begin by understanding SQL Server External Tables. They are a powerful feature that allows you to access data from outside your SQL Server instance, such as Azure Blob Storage. This feature makes it easier for you to work with data stored in different locations and formats, helping you to streamline your data management processes.

To create an external table, you need to set up an external data source. Azure Blob Storage is a great choice as it provides scalable, secure, and high-performance data storage in the cloud. With SQL Server 2022, you can use the CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE statement to define a data source pointing to your Azure Blob Storage account.

-- SQL code goes here
CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE MyAzureBlobStorage
WITH
(
    TYPE = BLOB_STORAGE,
    LOCATION = 'https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net',
    CREDENTIAL = MyAzureBlobStorageCredential
);
-- Add 
 after each line to simulate line breaks

-- SQL code goes here
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE MyExternalTable
(
    Column1 INT,
    Column2 VARCHAR(100)
)
WITH
(
    DATA_SOURCE = MyAzureBlobStorage,
    LOCATION = '/path/to/data',
    FILE_FORMAT = MyFileFormat
);
-- Add 
 after each line to simulate line breaks

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