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Amazon Redshift Connector

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Version 40

 

Intro

Amazon Redshift is a hosted data warehouse project that is part of the larger cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services. Redshift handles analytics workloads on large scale DataSets stored by a column-oriented DBMS principle. You can use Domo's Amazon Redshift Connector to pull data from your Redshift database and compile custom reports. You indicate the data you want by inputting an SQL query. For more information about the Redshift API, visit their website. ( http://docs.aws.amazon.com/redshift/..._commands.html )

The Amazon Redshift connector is a "Database" connector, meaning it retrieves data from a database based on a query. In the Data Center, you can access the connector page for this and other Database connectors by clicking Database in the toolbar at the top of the window.

You connect to your Redshift database in the Data Center. This topic discusses the fields and menus that are specific to the Redshift connector user interface. General information for adding DataSets, setting update schedules, and editing DataSet information is discussed in Adding a DataSet Using a Data Connector.

Note: Depending on your network's structure, you may need to whitelist any IP addresses necessary for the data connector to retrieve data. Contact your IT administrator for assistance.

 

Primary Use Cases

Pulling data out of a Redshift data warehouse or data mart.

Primary Metrics

This depends on the data stored in the Redshift instance.

Primary Company Roles

  • BI leads

  • IT roles

Average Implementation Time

Anywhere between 5 and 40 hours, depending on configuration settings and the amount of data you are pulling.

Ease of Use (on a 1-to-10 scale with 1 being easiest)

6

Video - Connecting to Redshift

 

Best Practices

Try to limit the results set size as much as possible. To speed the acquisition of the data, "fetch size" can be increased; however, setting it too high can cause connector run failures as well as performance problems with the Redshift instance. 10000 is a good place to start.

Prerequisites

To connect to a Redshift database and create a DataSet, you must have the following:

  • The username and password you use to log into your Redshift database

  • The host name for the database server (for example, db.company.com).

  • The port number for the database

  • The database name

CA certificate text or URL path is required only if you select Certificate String or URL Path, respectively, in the Certificate Format menu.

Creating a Redshift account

To create a Redshift user account, contact your Redshift Database Administrator (DBA) and have them follow these directions:

By default, only the master user that you created when you launched the cluster has access to the initial database in the cluster. To grant other users access, you must create one or more user accounts. Database user accounts are global across all the databases in a cluster; they do not belong to individual databases.

Use the CREATE USER command to create a new database user. When you create a new user, you specify the name of the new user and a password. A password is required. It must have between 8 and 64 characters, and it must include at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one numeral.

For example, to create a user named GUEST with password ABCd4321, issue the following command:

create user guest password 'ABCd4321';

Whitelisting IP addresses

Before you can connect to a Redshift database, you must also whitelist a number of IP addresses on your database server on the port you want to connect to. For the full list of IP addresses, see Whitelisting IP Addresses for Connectors.

Connecting to Your Redshift Database

This section enumerates the options in the Credentials and Details panes in the Redshift Connector page. The components of the other panes in this page, Scheduling and Name & Describe Your DataSet, are universal across most connector types and are discussed in greater length in  Adding a DataSet Using a Data Connector.

Credentials Pane

This pane contains fields for entering credentials to connect to your database. The following table describes what is needed for each field:  

Field

Description

JDBC Driver

Select the JDBC driver you want to use to connect. 

Host

Enter the host string to connect to the SQL database. For example: //examplecluster.cpdbcwb2mzr4.us-east-2.redshift.amazonaws.com

Database

Enter the name of the SQL database.

Username

Enter your Redshift username.

Password

Enter your Redshift password.

Database Port

Enter the port number for the database.

Certificate Format

Select the certificate format. If you do not want to include a certificate, select No Certificate. If you select Certificate String, you must paste the text for your certificate in the Certificate field. If you select URL Path, you must enter the URL where your certificate is located in the Certificate field.   

Certificate

Paste the text for your CA certificate or enter the URL where your certificate is located. This is optional. If you do not want to include a certificate, select No Certificate in the Certificate Format menu.

Once you have entered valid Redshift credentials, you can use the same account any time you go to create a new Redshift DataSet. You can manage connector accounts in the Accounts tab in the Data Center. For more information about this tab, see Managing User Accounts for Connectors.

Details Pane

In this pane you create an SQL query to pull data from your database. You can also choose a specific database table and columns and specify which columns you want to appear in your report.

Menu

Description

Query

Enter the Structured Query Language (SQL) query to use in selecting the data you want. For example:

select * from Employee

Database Tables

Select the database table you want to appear in your report.

Table Columns 

Select all table columns you want to appear in your report.  

Query Helper 

Revise this query if desired. 

Other Panes

For information about the remaining sections of the connector interface, including how to configure scheduling, retry, and update options, see Adding a DataSet Using a Data Connector.

Troubleshooting

If you run into connection issues...

  • Verify the connection works using pgAdmin.

  • Confirm all of the necessary Domo IPs have been whitelisted (see Whitelisting IP addresses, above).

  • Run a profile on the SQL query.

FAQ

How often can the data be updated?

As often as needed.

Are there any API limits that I need to be aware of?

Limits depend on your server configuration.

What do I need to be aware of while writing a query?

Make sure that all the words, table names and field names are correctly spelled. Refer to the Query Helper field for query help.