--- title: "How to Connect Firebolt" slug: "firebolt" description: "Securely get your data to Firebolt quickly and easily with Dataddo. Learn how to connect Firebolt to a data flow in just a few steps to get your data flowing." updated: 2025-03-09T17:48:48Z published: 2025-03-09T17:48:48Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dataddo.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Firebolt **Firebolt** is a cloud-native data warehouse designed for high-performance analytics. It uses a unique indexing technology that combines a high-performance cache and an optimized storage format to provide fast query response times and efficient storage utilization, making it ideal for interactive and real-time analytics on large datasets. ## Prerequisites - You have a running Firebolt database. - You have a **general purpose engine** attached to your database which offers `read` and `write` abilities and better performance compared to other engine types. ## Authorize Connection to Firebolt 1. In the Authorizers tab, click on [Authorize New Service](https://app.dataddo.com/authorizers) and select **Firebolt**. 2. You will be required to enter the following information: 1. **Username**: Email address which you use to log into your Firebolt account. 2. **Password**: Password associated with yout email to log into Firebolt. 3. **Database name**: The name of your Firebolt database. 4. **Database region**: Make sure you select the correct region of your database. 3. Click on Save. ## Create a New Firebolt Destination 1. On the **Destinations** page, click on the [**Create Destination**](https://app.dataddo.com/destinations) button and select the destination from the list. 2. Select your ***authorizer*** from the drop-down menu. 3. Name your ***destination*** and click on **Save**. Need to authorize another connection? Click on **Add new Account** in drop-down menu during ***authorizer*** selection and follow the on-screen prompts. You can also go to the **Authorizers** tab and click on [**Add New Service**](https://app.dataddo.com/service/new). ## Create a Flow to Firebolt 1. Navigate to **Flows** and click on [**Create Flow**](https://app.dataddo.com/flow/new). 2. Click on **Connect Your Data** to add your ***source(s)***. 3. Click on **Connect Your Data Destination** to add the ***destination***. 4. Choose the [write mode](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-storages#write-modes) and fill in the other required information. 5. Check the **Data Preview** to see if your configuration is correct. 6. **Name** your flow and click on **Create Flow** to finish the setup. ## Connector Overview ### FACT and DIMENSION Tables When you create a table in Firebolt to run queries, specify whether it's a **FACT** or a **DIMENSION** table. Firebolt handles these table types differently to optimize query performance in general and join operations in particular. | Table | Type | Use Case | | --- | --- | --- | | FACT table | FACT tables are always sharded across engine nodes and each node stores **part** of the table. | Use for larger and most granular (transaction) tables. | | DIMENSION table | DIMENSION tables are replicated in **each engine node**. | Use for smaller data sets that are typically more descriptive and are frequently joined with fact tables. | When performing joins, the **local shard of a FACT table** on each node is **joined with the local copy of a DIMENSION table**. :::(note) (**DATADDO TIP**) You can create FACT tables through Dataddo. If you need a **DIMENSION** table, then you first need to **create the table in the Firebolt** and then send the data there with Dataddo. ::: If your table does not fit in either of the traditional fact/dimension definitions, then define - Very large tables as **FACT**, - Smaller tables as **DIMENSIONS**. ### Primary Indexes Firebolt incorporates several building blocks (indexes) that enable accelerated query response times. The primary indexes are the main sort key of the table. They will be used as the main tool for data pruning and data distribution. By using the primary index, Firebolt will read ranges of data from each F3 file. This will reduce the I/O needed to be read, and increase performance dramatically. See [Firebolt's official documentation](https://docs.firebolt.io/Overview/indexes/primary-index.html) if you need help with choosing a primary index. --- ## Limitations ### Cannot Edit a Table Once a table is created in the Firebolt database, it cannot be altered. In other words, there is **no option to add or remove columns** as it is not supported by Firebolt. ### Supported Write Modes Firebolt supports only [insert](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-storages#insert) (append new data) write mode. ## Related Articles - [Data Backfilling to Storages](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-backfilling-to-storages) - [Write Modes](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-storages#write-modes) - [Implementation of Batch Ingestion to Data Warehouses](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/ingestion-to-data-warehouses) - [Network Access Control List (ACL) Configuration](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/network-acl) - [SSH Tunnelling](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/ssh-tunnelling) - [Data Transformations](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-transformations) - [Data Quality Firewall](https://docs.dataddo.com/docs/data-quality-firewall)