Data sources supported in SQL Server Analysis Services tabular 1200 models
Applies to: 
SQL Server Analysis Services 
Azure Analysis Services
Fabric/Power BI Premium
This article describes the types of data sources that can be used with SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) tabular models at the 1200 and lower compatibility level. For Azure Analysis Services, see Data sources supported in Azure Analysis Services.
Supported data sources for in-memory tabular models
When you install SQL Server Data Tools, setup does not install the providers that are listed for each data source. Some providers might be installed with other applications on your computer. In other cases, you may need to download and install the provider.
| Source | Versions | File type | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access databases | Microsoft Access 2010 and later. | .accdb or .mdb | ACE 14 OLE DB provider 1 |
| SQL Server relational databases | SQL Server 2008 and later, SQL Server Data Warehouse 2008 and later, Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL Data Warehouse), Analytics Platform System (APS) | (not applicable) | Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server (MSOLEDBSQL)2 OLE DB Provider for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB)3 SQL Server Native Client OLE DB Provider (SQLNCLI)3 .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Client |
| Oracle relational databases | Oracle 9i and later. | (not applicable) | Oracle OLE DB Provider .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle Client .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server OraOLEDB MSDASQL |
| Teradata relational databases | Teradata V2R6 and later | (not applicable) | TDOLEDB OLE DB provider .Net Data Provider for Teradata |
| Informix relational databases | (not applicable) | Informix OLE DB provider | |
| IBM DB2 relational databases | 8.1 | (not applicable) | DB2OLEDB |
| Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) relational databases | 15.0.2 | (not applicable) | Sybase OLE DB provider |
| Other relational databases | (not applicable) | (not applicable) | OLE DB provider or ODBC driver |
| Text files | (not applicable) | .txt, .tab, .csv | ACE 14 OLE DB provider 1 |
| Microsoft Excel files | Excel 2010 and later | .xlsx, xlsm, .xlsb, .xltx, .xltm | ACE 14 OLE DB provider 1 |
| Power Pivot workbook | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and later Analysis Services | xlsx, xlsm, .xlsb, .xltx, .xltm | ASOLEDB 10.5 (used only with Power Pivot workbooks that are published to SharePoint farms that have Power Pivot for SharePoint installed) |
| Analysis Services cube | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and later Analysis Services | (not applicable) | ASOLEDB 10 |
| Data feeds (used to import data from Reporting Services reports, Atom service documents, Microsoft Azure Marketplace DataMarket, and single data feed) |
Atom 1.0 format Any database or document that is exposed as a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Data Service (formerly ADO.NET Data Services). |
.atomsvc for a service document that defines one or more feeds.atom for an Atom web feed document |
Microsoft Data Feed Provider for Power Pivot .NET Framework data feed data provider for Power Pivot |
| Office Database Connection files | .odc |
[1] Using ACE 14 OLE DB provider to connect to file data types is not recommended. If you must retain your tabular 1200 and lower compatibility level models, export your data to a csv file type, import to SQL database, and then connect to and import from the database. However, it's recommended you upgrade to tabular 1400 compatibility level (SQL Server 2017 and later) and use Get Data in SSDT to select and import your file data source. Get Data uses structured data source connections provided by the Power Query data engine, which are more stable than ACE 14 OLE DB provider connections.
[2] If deploying a tabular 1200 model to Azure Analysis Services or SQL Server Analysis Services, it's recommended you use the updated Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server (MSOLEDBSQL). For SQL Server Analysis Services, it may be necessary to download and install the MSOLEDBSQL driver on the server. To learn more, see Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server.
[3] SQL Server Native Client (SQLNCLI) and previous generation OLE DB Provider for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB) are deprecated. It's recommended you use the updated Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server.
Supported data sources for DirectQuery models
DirectQuery is an alternative to in-memory storage mode, routing queries to and returning results directly from backend data systems rather than storing all data inside the model (and in RAM once the model is loaded). Because Analysis Services has to formulate queries in the native database query syntax, a smaller subset of data sources is supported for this mode.
| Data source | Versions | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Server relational databases | SQL Server 2008 and later, SQL Server Data Warehouse 2008 and later, Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL Data Warehouse), Analytics Platform System (APS) | Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server (MSOLEDBSQL)2, OLE DB Provider for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB)3, SQL Server Native Client OLE DB Provider (SQLNCLI)3, .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Client |
| Oracle relational databases | Oracle 9i and later | Oracle OLE DB Provider |
| Teradata relational databases | Teradata V2R6 and later | .Net Data Provider for Teradata |
Tips for choosing data sources
Importing tables from relational databases saves you steps because foreign key relationships are used during import to create relationships between tables in the model designer.
Importing multiple tables, and then deleting the ones you don't need, can also save you steps. If you import tables one at a time, you might still need to create relationships between the tables manually.
Columns that contain similar data in different data sources are the basis of creating relationships within the model designer. When using heterogeneous data sources, choose tables that have columns that can be mapped to tables in other data sources that contain identical or similar data.
OLE DB providers can sometimes offer faster performance for large-scale data. When choosing between different providers for the same data source, you should try the OLE DB provider first.
See also
Data sources supported in SQL Server Analysis Services tabular 1400 models