About data sources
A data source is an external system where your data, accounts, and groups reside, and from where the data is pulled into Data Access. An external system is also called the underlying data source. Your external system can be a database, reporting tool, or data warehouse such as BigQuery, Databricks, or Snowflake. It can also be an identity store that contains only accounts and groups (no data objects), such as Microsoft Entra ID or Okta. You can also have multiple data sources of the same type in Data Access, for example, multiple Snowflake accounts.
A data source in Data Access is an instance of your external system within Data Access. It allows Data Access to synchronize entities such as access controls, identities, and data objects.
Supported data sources
Data Access supports the following data sources:
- Data warehouses: BigQuery, Databricks, Snowflake
- Identity stores: Microsoft Entra ID, Okta
How data sources work
Each data source includes metadata that describes its structure and behavior. This metadata helps Data Access understand:
- Which types of data objects exist within the data source, for example, folders, files, and tables.
- How access is managed, for example, whether the data source is Access Control List (ACL)-based or role-based.
- Which specific permissions can be set on the data objects.
- An explanation of what each permission does and whether it represents a Read, Write, or Admin permission.
- Which features the data source supports, such as column masking and row filtering, or whether it functions purely as an identity store.
Collibra as a data source
Data Access treats Collibra as a built-in data source, automatically including all users and groups from your Collibra environment. Because this data source is managed by Collibra, it is read-only in Data Access. You can still change its owners. To manage the users and groups within it, you can use the Collibra settings.