---
title: Set Up an External Data Source
pubDate: 2026-08-17T09:53:44.266Z
antora:
  editUrl: https://github.com/couchbaselabs/docs-columnar/edit/main/modules/sources/pages/manage-external.adoc
  xref: xref:analytics:sources:manage-external.adoc[]
---

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# Set Up an External Data Source

> To provide query access to data that resides in external object storage, you create an external link and associate it with an external collection. 

## [](#supported-external-sources)Supported External Sources

Capella Analytics supports external links to data in [Amazon S3](external-s3.md), [GCS](external-gcs.md), and [Azure Blob Storage](external-azure.md). This data remains in the storage bucket or container—​Capella Analytics does not copy it into a collection. You can query `Delta` tables residing in S3 buckets, GCS buckets, or Azure Blob Storage containers that are in one of the following formats:

* JSON
* CSV
* TSV
* Parquet
* Avro