Question

A data analyst needs to pull data directly from a company's on-premises Microsoft SQL Server database into a desktop analytics tool for a recurring report. The tool must maintain a live connection so refreshes reflect current data, and IT has asked that no data be exported to intermediate flat files. Which acquisition method best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Establish an ODBC/native database connector from the analytics tool to the SQL Server instance

Answer

Schedule a nightly export of the tables to CSV files stored on a shared drive

Answer

Request a REST API endpoint be built to serve the SQL Server tables as JSON

Answer

Take a periodic database backup file and restore it locally before each report run