Databricks tables

Databricks provides multiple table types and storage formats to meet different data management needs. This section covers managed, external, and foreign tables, along with the Delta Lake and Apache Iceberg storage formats that power advanced features like Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID) transactions and time travel.

Core concepts

Learn the fundamentals of table types, storage formats, and Unity Catalog integration.

Topic	Description
Tables concepts	Core concepts and foundational information about table types, storage formats, and Unity Catalog integration.

Table types

Explore different table types and their capabilities for various data management scenarios.

Table type	Description
Unity Catalog managed tables in Databricks for Delta Lake and Apache Iceberg	Databricks manages metadata and data files. Used for new tables requiring optimized performance.
Temporary tables	Session-scoped Unity Catalog managed tables for intermediate data. SQL warehouses only.
Work with external tables	Data stored in external systems. Unity Catalog manages metadata only.
Work with foreign tables	Read-only access to data in external systems connected through Lakehouse Federation.

Storage formats

Work with open table formats that provide advanced data management capabilities.

Format	Description
Delta Lake	Default storage format providing ACID transactions, time travel, and schema enforcement for managed and external tables.
Apache Iceberg	Open table format for integration with the Iceberg ecosystem, supporting advanced metadata management.

Table management

Configure and optimize table behavior, structure, and performance.

Feature	Description
Table constraints	Define and enforce data quality rules with check constraints and not null constraints.
Schema enforcement	Control how Databricks handles schema changes and data type enforcement during writes.
Table partitioning	Organize data by partition keys to improve query performance and data management.
Table size monitoring	Monitor and analyze table storage usage and growth patterns.
Convert external to managed	Migrate external tables to managed tables for improved performance and management.
External partition discovery	Automatically discover and register partitions in external tables stored in cloud storage.