# Connecting to Vertica Database

Vertica is one of the fastest and scalable advanced analytics platforms, trusted by data-driven enterprise across the globe. It is a column-oriented relational database, which means that the data is stored in columns instead of rows. This reduces the memory consumption and disk I/O. Vertica databases are designed to manage large and growing volumes of data and provide fast query performance when used for data warehouses and other query-intensive applications.

Astera offers native connectivity to Vertica databases at both source and destination points. The connectivity also extends to other objects such as *Database Lookup, SQL Statement Lookup* in transformations, *SQL Script Task* in a workflow, and *Database Diff Processor* in Database Write Strategies.

In this article, we will cover:

1. A use case where Vertica Database is being used in Astera.
2. Connecting to a Vertica database in Astera.
3. Different data writing options for a database destination in Astera.

### Use Case

In this use case, we will be connecting to a Vertica Database and integrating data from it in a dataflow.

We have *Sales by Category* data stored in a *Database Table Source* and we want to calculate the total amount of sales closed for each category.

To learn more about how a *Database Table Source* works in Astera, click [here](https://documentation.astera.com/astera-data-stack-v10/dataflows/sources/database-table-source).

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/01-Vertica-Sources.png)

We will use the *Aggregate* transformation object and apply *Sum* function to the *ProductSales* field while grouping the dataset by *CategoryID*.

To learn more about how the *Aggregate* transformation works in Astera, click[ here](https://documentation.astera.com/astera-data-stack-v10/dataflows/transformations/aggregate-transformation).

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/02-VerticaDB-Aggregate-Transformation.png)

If we preview the output, we can see the total *ProductSales* for each category.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/03-Vertica-Usecase-Data-Preview.png)

Next, we can write this data to a database table using the *Database Table Destination* in Astera.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/04-DB-Destination.gif)

We will be using the *Database Table Destination* object.

1. To configure the *Database Table Destination* object, right-click on its header and select *Properties* from the context menu.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/05-DB-Destination-Properties.png)

As soon as you have selected the *Properties* option from the context menu, a new window will open.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/06-DB-Connection-Screen.png)

This is where you can configure the properties for the *Database Table Destination* object.

2. The first step is to specify the connection in the *Database Connection* window for the source object.

Select *Vertica* as your *Data Provider* from the drop-down list.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/07-Vertica-Data-Provider.png)

* Enter the required credentials for your Vertica data provider account.
  1. *User ID*
  2. *Password*
  3. *Server Name*
  4. *Database*
  5. *Port*

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/08-Vertica-Credentials.png)

* *Test Connection* to make sure that your database connection is successful, and click *Next*.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/09-Vertica-Connection-Result.png)

Once the connection is established, you can *Pick Table* or *Create Table* and modify *Writing Options* for Vertica Database on the Properties screen.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/10-Vertica-DestinationDB.png)

You have successfully configured Vertica as your database provider for the *Database Table Destination* object. The data will now be written to the Vertica Database once the dataflow is run.

![](https://docs.astera.com/projects/centerprise/en/10/_images/11-VerticaDB-Usecase.png)

We have successfully connected to Vertica Database and completed our use case in Astera.