General purpose DB in BizTalk

Question

In my BizTalk server, I would like to create custom orchestrations for fetching data from various sources such as REST APIs, SFTP folders, etc. I would like to store the parameters of the REST API requests or SFTP access requests in a DB and use them in the Orchestration when making the request. I am aware BizTalk has a built-in SQL Server. Does it have a DB that can be used for storing such parameters or reference data or metadata?

Answer 1

BizTalk does not have a built-in SQL server, but it does have a number of SQL databases that will be setup on SQL server of your choice when you configure the platform.

It is ill-advised to make any changes to the out-of-the-box databases, and instead if you want any custom logic to store data, then this should be done in your own custom database.  Ideally you should run this on a separate SQL instance.

From your description, it is worth noting that BizTalk has a tracking database, which can be set to automatically save all messages sent and received into a database along with meta-data, for the purposes of support.  In a busy environment this database can get very large, so it is advisable to only track what is necessary for your needs.

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Answer 2

We do this in our environment. We use a separate Database to store things like parameters that can be used in Orchestrations.

As mentioned by Alastair in his answer, do not add tables or update with tables in the out of the box database.

Answer 3

There are some table that can be used for Rerence data, called XRef tables. 

I wrote a blog post about it BizTalk Pattern: Translating Reference Data in a Map using Xref

You could use those for parameters, but probably not ideal.

Other options include BRE Rules (for non secrets) or SSO Configuration settings (for secrets).

As others have said, yes, a custom DB is fine, as long as you create it in another SQL instance.