Query Redshift Data as a SQL Server Database in Node.js

You can use CData Connect AI to query Redshift data through a SQL Server interface. Follow the procedure below to create a virtual database for Redshift in Connect AI and start querying using Node.js.

CData Connect AI provides a pure MySQL, cloud-to-cloud interface for Redshift, allowing you to easily query live Redshift data in Node.js — without replicating the data to a natively supported database. As you query data in Node.js, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to Redshift, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return Redshift data.

Configure Redshift Connectivity for NodeJS

Connectivity to Redshift from NodeJS is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Redshift data from NodeJS, we start by creating and configuring a Redshift connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Redshift" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Redshift.

   To connect to Redshift, set the following:

   • : Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
   • : Set this to the port of the cluster.
   • : Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
   • : Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
   • : Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

   You can obtain the and values in the AWS Management Console:

   1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
   2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
   3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Redshift Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

With the connection configured and a PAT generated, you are ready to connect to Redshift data from Node.js.

Query Redshift from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to Redshift with the SQL Server module. You will need the following information:

• server: tds.cdata.com
• port: 14333
• user: a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
• password: the PAT for the above user
• database: The connection you configured for Redshift (Redshift1)

Connect to Redshift data and start executing queries with the code below:

var sql = require('mssql')
var config = {
	server: 'tds.cdata.com',
	port: 14333, 
	user: '[email protected]', //update me
	password: 'CONNECT_USER_PAT', //update me	
	options: {
		encrypt: true,
		database: 'Redshift1'
	}
}

sql.connect(config, err => { 
 if(err){
 throw err ;
 }
 new sql.Request().query('SELECT * FROM Orders', (err, result) => {
 console.dir(result)
 })
 
});

sql.on('error', err => {
 console.log("SQL Error: " ,err);
})