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Michael_Tarallo
Employee
Employee

In this edition of the Qlik Design Blog, Denise is back discussing some additional connectivity updates for Qlik Sense Cloud Business and Qlik Sense Cloud Basic.

What's New

Qlik Sense Cloud Business users have been eagerly waiting for direct connectivity to an on-premise Microsoft SQL Server. We’ve seen rapid adoption of Qlik Sense Cloud Business’s connectors to cloud data sources – Salesforce, web connectors, etc. – over the past few months, but we know that just because you’ve moved your analytics to the cloud, you haven’t necessarily moved all of your data there. In this article you will find how to set up the connector and to learn about few other Qlik Sense Cloud updates.

MS SQL Server in Qlik Sense Cloud Business

The process of setting up connectivity between Qlik Sense Cloud Business and a MS SQL Server is similar to what you’ve done to set up other connectors. A prompt will ask you to enter the appropriate host information (server host name, port number, available database, and credentials) to establish the connection and allow access passed the firewall. Check out Mike Tarallo’s video below to see how he set up connectivity between his SQL server and the Qlik Sense Cloud Business environment (thanks Mike!). And, don’t forget, you can use the automated data refresh functionality to update your Qlik Sense apps from your MS SQL data!

Here are a few other updates and improvements that have also been introduced to the Qlik Sense Cloud offering:

Web File Connectivity

You might already have learned a trick to use the REST Connector in Qlik Sense Cloud Business to directly connect to web files, but we’ve now added a separate web file connector so that users have a much simpler and easier way to connect to an unsecured web file. Basically any file source that Qlik Sense can connect to (HTML tables, csv, xml, xls, etc) can also be made available over the web via HTTP and even FTP. Please refer to our online help to learn how to configure these types of connections. As an added bonus, this connector is now available in both Qlik Sense Cloud Business and Qlik Sense Cloud Basic. Qlik Sense Cloud Basic users now have another way to load data in addition to uploading files allowing them to freely experience how the associative model works to uncover insights across multiple data sources.

App Governance

When using Qlik Sense Cloud business you can have up to 50 users within a workspace. With up to 50 users viewing and editing multiple apps, group members often want transparency around when apps were accessed and by whom. We’ve added a “recent history” data stream to apps in the collaborative workspace so users have visibility into group activity, making governance and communication even easier to manage. Simply click on the “i” icon in any app to view the details:

app_gov.png

Data Wizard Redesign

As you’ve been building out new apps, you probably noticed that the Data Wizard looks a little different lately. All of the same functionality exists – upload or attach files, access to Qlik DataMarket, etc. - but we’ve listed options differently for better usability. The biggest improvement is that all available connectors will be visible on the screen, which will be particularly helpful when we launch the next group of connectors on the way – check back soon!

data_wiz.png

NOTE: To increase resolution or size of the video, select the YouTube logo at the bottom right of the player. You will be brought directly to YouTube where you can increase the resolution and size of the player window. Look for the 'settings' gears icon in the lower right of the player once at YouTube.

denise.pngDenise LaForgia is a Senior Product Marketing Manager focused on Qlik cloud solutions. On an occasional basis, Denise will share updates on our Qlik Sense Cloud solutions on the Qlik Design blog so please subscribe and stay tuned. You can also download the videos mentioned in these blog, see the .mp4 attachment on the bottom.

16 Comments
fmarvnnt
Partner - Creator III
Partner - Creator III

Really interesting.  I test the Web File Connectivity with positive results even with poor internet connection.  Only one note:  "Why you do not support FTS and SFTP protocols too?"

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Michael_Tarallo
Employee
Employee

Hello Francesco - good question - I will have to ask daz‌ to see what he says - @Dean?

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fmarvnnt
Partner - Creator III
Partner - Creator III

Thank U Michael (obviously I was talking about FTPS not FTS )

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Not applicable

I'm assuming that there'll be a list of public IP addresses that Qlik Sense Cloud uses as opening up port 1433 to public access is a huge no go for most people.

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Not applicable

I'm with Gavin on this one.  Qlik Sense Cloud Business is almost perfect for my market segment, but without a better way to get data from onpremise it's a non-starter.

Authenticated FTPS would be a great option. At a push having a published list of Public IP addresses might be acceptable too.

Look forward to seeing how this one develops though!

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1,753 Views
Not applicable

Hello! This is a great new! I'm thinking of mirroring the local MS SQL Server in Azure, and then connect Qlik cloud business to azure sql server with the new  connector. Has anyone try this?  I read that Azure's firewall requires to configure a Fix IP address. I consider Azure because it is very easy to upload date from sql server management studio. If anyone know a better way to do this, I'd appreciate your advice @mto

Thanks!

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Michael_Tarallo
Employee
Employee

Hi Ignacio - I have not tried this with an Azure but did reach out to the products group to check. I will update you when I hear something.

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Not applicable

Hello Michael! how are you? Any news about this?

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Michael_Tarallo
Employee
Employee

Hi Ignacio - thanks for the reminder - I followed up with PM and the stated that they tested the connector with Azure (knowing it uses different technology) - however I don't have a firm yes or no at the moment. My take is that we don't officially support MS SQL on Azure from the Qlik Sense Cloud using the MS SQL on premise connector - just yet. HTH

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davidganly
Partner - Contributor III
Partner - Contributor III

Hi mto‌ and Ignacio,

I am using Qlik Sense Cloud for Business with MS SQL Server 2016 on an Azure VM.  (I not using Azures Cloud Database but the logic should be identical for that).  this is working successfully.  I would only point out two items that are important.

1. Security:  You will never expose a database to the internet without a. changing the port from the default and 2 creating a very complex password for the login.  i would also ensure that you create an azure NSG (network security group) and only whitelist the public ip addresses from qlik sense cloud.  If you expose your database to the cloud and open the port without the above you will see in your logs attempts to login to your database.

2. Azure Costs: (i am sure AMZ is the same) Azure will charge for outgoing data.  That means when you auto refresh daily from QSCB you will be charged for bringing your data from Azure to QSCB.  The cost is small but if you are dealing with a lot of data - you just need to understand and account if there is going to be an annual cost.

Check this out to see the ip addresses you need to whitelist in Azure.

Qlik Sense Cloud Business - SQL Server Connection

The only other thing is to use the "Filter Data" option if you are building your app with the Add Data (wizard) option.  If your data source has a lot of data.  Don't pull all the data into the cloud, latency, app size restrictions and basically wasting time.  I tend to build using the App wizard and then modify if necessary using the data load editor. 

It would really be great to see other databases added such as Oracle and mysql as soon as possible. 

hope this helps

David

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