This lesson covers tools and setup. Use AuraDB Professional for Neo4j and Northwind CSV files for data. You’ll use Data Importer in Module 3. The course focuses on schema analysis and modeling decisions; the source could be PostgreSQL, BigQuery, Snowflake, or any relational store.
What you need
To complete this course, you will need:
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A Neo4j AuraDB Professional instance (no credit card required)
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The Northwind CSV files (instructions below)
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Basic understanding of relational databases: tables, rows, columns, foreign keys
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Basic understanding of graph databases: nodes, relationships, properties
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Familiarity with SQL queries
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Basic knowledge of Cypher query language
Recommended prerequisite courses
Prerequisites
If you’re new to Neo4j or graphs, complete these first:
Neo4j Database
Create an AuraDB Professional instance for this course:
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No credit card required - AuraDB Professional includes a free tier
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Graph Data Science - Run algorithms (PageRank, community detection) after importing
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Data Importer included - The visual import tool is built into the Aura console
Creating an AuraDB Professional instance
To create an AuraDB Professional instance:
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Go to console.neo4j.io/graphacademy
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Sign in or create a Neo4j account
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Click New Instance
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Select AuraDB Professional
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Choose a region close to you
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Save your connection credentials securely
Why AuraDB Professional?
Why AuraDB Professional?
AuraDB Professional provides access to Graph Data Science algorithms without requiring a credit card. After importing your data, you can run algorithms like PageRank, community detection, and pathfinding directly on your graph.
Northwind Dataset
The Northwind data is available as pre-exported CSV files in the Neo4j GitHub repository, ready to import directly into Neo4j:
Northwind CSV files: https://github.com/neo4j-graph-examples/northwind/tree/main/import
You can:
Quick start
The import process is covered in Module 3. Use these CSV files with the Data Importer or Cypher in your AuraDB instance.
Using the Data Importer
The Data Importer is built into the AuraDB console. For Northwind, use the CSV files from the previous section:
Open the Data Importer
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In Neo4j Aura, open your AuraDB Professional instance
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Click Import in the left sidebar
Map and import
After adding files to the canvas:
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Configure each file as a Node or use it to create Relationships
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Set the node labels and property mappings
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Define relationship types and connect nodes
Module 3 covers the mapping process in detail.
Approaches for Importing Data
Data sources and import methods:
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Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)
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Web APIs
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Public data directories
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BI tools
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Excel
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Flat files (CSV, JSON, XML)
Import factors and options
Import method depends on these factors:
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The source of the data
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The volume of data
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The frequency of the import
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The complexity of the data model
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The transformation required
Import approaches (choose based on your data volume, update frequency, and transformation needs):
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One-off batch import of all data
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One-off load with a regular update
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Continuous import of data
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Real-time application updates
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ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines
Options for Importing Data
Import options and tools:
Use this flowchart to pick an import tool for your data source. For this course, you will use Neo4j Data Importer or Arrows.app (Module 3).
Check Your Understanding
1. What is the best solution?
True or False - Using an ETL pipeline will always be the best solution for importing data into Neo4j.
Hint
ETL is one option. Others include Data Importer, LOAD CSV, neo4j-admin, and custom apps. Choose based on data source, volume, and whether import is one-time or recurring.
Solution
False. Choose the import method based on: data source (CSV, relational database, API), data volume, update frequency (one-time vs recurring), and transformation complexity.
Summary
In this lesson, you explored some of the approaches for importing data.
You can try the optional mapping challenge to practice the relational-to-graph concepts, or continue to the next module to start designing your graph model.
