Fabric RTI 101: Database CDC Sources
Many organizations already have huge amounts of business-critical data sitting in relational databases — SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and so on. But by default, these databases aren’t real-time data sources. Traditionally, if you wanted to know what changed, you’d run queries at intervals — maybe once an hour, or once a day — and look for differences. That approach works, but it introduces delay.
This is where Change Data Capture, or CDC, comes in. CDC is a technique that turns a traditional database into a real-time data source. Instead of polling for differences, CDC actually streams the changes themselves as they occur. Anytime a row is inserted, updated, or deleted, that operation is captured and emitted as an event.
What does this give us? It means we can have near real-time replication between systems. If a new order is placed in SQL Server, that insert can immediately flow downstream to a reporting database, a data warehouse, or an analytics pipeline. If a customer record is updated, that change can be pushed instantly into a CRM system. If data is deleted, that too is captured and reflected downstream without waiting for the next batch sync.
This unlocks a lot of possibilities. For analytics, it means you’re not working with yesterday’s snapshot — you’re analyzing what’s happening right now. For operations, it allows different systems to stay synchronized without delay. And for advanced use cases, CDC feeds into real-time intelligence — for example, a new order event could trigger fraud detection checks before the order is even processed.
I would expect the list of supported databases to constantly grow, but it currently supports at least:
- Azure SQL Database
- Azure Database for PostgreSQL
- Azure Database for MySQL
- Azure Cosmos DB
- Azure SQL Managed Instance
- SQL Server
Analogy
You can think of CDC like a security camera in a shop. Instead of checking the store once a night to see what’s different, the camera records every action — every customer walking in, every purchase at the counter, every item taken off the shelf. You’re no longer asking, What changed since last time? Instead, you’re seeing the changes as they happen.
CDC transforms traditional relational databases into streaming event sources. It’s one of the most practical ways to bring legacy systems into a modern real-time architecture.
Learn more about Fabric RTI
If you really want to learn about RTI right now, we have an online on-demand course that you can enrol in, right now. You’ll find it at Mastering Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence
2026-02-16