We are thrilled to announce the Public Preview of Cross-Platform View Sharing, a groundbreaking feature that allows data providers to share views across different platforms, clouds, and regions. This innovation supports our mission of promoting an open and interoperable data ecosystem, enabling secure and seamless data exchange.
Breaking Down Barriers in Data Sharing
While view sharing has been a common feature offered by other vendors, it has traditionally been constrained to single platforms. Sharing views across multiple platforms and clouds has remained a challenge, often leading to vendor lock-in and reduced collaboration flexibility. With Cross-Platform View Sharing, Databricks has solved this problem by enabling seamless view sharing across environments. This capability expands the reach of data providers and empowers data consumers with greater flexibility and control over their tools, paving the way for enhanced collaboration and faster insights.
Key Benefits of Cross-Platform View Sharing
- Flexibility Across Platforms: Share views with recipients on different platforms, whether they use Databricks or not.
- Secure and Open Protocol: Built on the Delta Sharing protocol, the industryโs first open protocol for secure data sharing, ensuring secure exchanges across various environments.
- Expanded Collaboration: Collaborate with partners, clients, and stakeholders across clouds and regions without duplicating data or being tied to a single vendor.
- Access Through Open Clients: Recipients can use popular open-source tools and platforms like Apache Sparkโข, Pandas, Power BI, Tableau, and others to access shared views.
Understanding View Sharing
What are Views? In Databricks, views are read-only representations of data, derived from tables or other views. They contain the query logic but not the underlying data, making them an efficient way to share insights without duplicating datasets. Views are governed within the Unity Catalog, ensuring fine-grained access control and governance.
How Does View Sharing Work? View sharing leverages the Delta Sharing protocol, enabling organizations to share views securely with any recipient, regardless of their platform. By using views instead of raw data, data providers can promote reusability and reduce redundancy, allowing multiple users to analyze the same data without duplicating storage.
Cross-Platform View Sharing in Action
Previously, shared views could only be accessed using Databricks Serverless SQL, which operates seamlessly across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Now, with Cross-Platform View Sharing, data consumers can:
- Leverage any Databricks cluster type.
- Utilize open Delta Sharing clients, such as Apache Sparkโข, Pandas, Power BI, and Tableau, to query shared views without needing Databricks.
This broadens the accessibility of shared data, ensuring that even organizations not on Databricks can benefit from seamless data exchange.
Use Cases
1. Databricks to Databricks (D2D) Sharing
Organizations often collaborate with partners who operate on different clouds or in different regions. With D2D sharing, two Databricks customers can share views seamlessly within the Databricks ecosystem, eliminating the need to replicate data across clouds.
2. Databricks to Open (D2O) Sharing
Databricks customers can now share views with recipients who do not use Databricks. Using open Delta Sharing clients like Apache Sparkโข, Pandas, Power BI, and Tableau, external recipients can query shared views directly. This capability is invaluable for business analysts and decision-makers who prefer simplified access to insights without navigating complex data platforms.
3. Databricks Marketplace
Cross-Platform View Sharing significantly enhances the Databricks Marketplace by enabling data providers to:
- Reach non-Databricks users, expanding their audience.
- Monetize shared views without requiring recipients to adopt Databricks. Data consumers benefit by avoiding platform lock-in and leveraging familiar tools for analysis.
Try Cross-Platform View Sharing Today
Cross-Platform View Sharing is now available in Public Preview. Experience seamless, secure, and scalable data sharing across platforms, clouds, and regions. Unlock the potential of your data ecosystem and drive collaboration like never before.
