Data Virtualization (Integration design pattern)

Salesforce accesses external data in real time. This removes the need to persist data in Salesforce and then reconcile the data between Salesforce and the external system.

Solutions:

• Salesforce Connect (Best Solution):

Use Salesforce Connect to access data from external sources, along with your Salesforce data. Pull data from legacy systems such as SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle in real time without making a copy of the data in Salesforce.

Salesforce Connect maps data tables in external systems to external objects in your org. External objects are similar to custom objects, except that they map to data located outside your Salesforce org. Salesforce Connect uses a live connection to external data to always keep external objects up-to-date. Accessing an external object fetches the data from the external system in real time.

Salesforce Connect lets you:

• Query data in an external system.
• Create, update, and delete data in an external system.
• Access external objects via list views, detail pages, record feeds, custom tabs, and page layouts.
• Define relationships between external objects and standard or custom objects to integrate data from different sources.
• Enable Chatter feeds on external object pages for collaboration.
• Run reports (limited) on external data.
• View the data on the Salesforce mobile app.

To access data stored on an external system using Salesforce Connect, you can use one of the following adapters:

• OData 2.0 adapter or OData 4.0 adapter — connects to data exposed by any OData 2.0 or 4.0 producer.
• Cross-org adapter — connects to data that’s stored in another Salesforce org. The cross-org adapter uses the standard Lightning Platform REST API. Unlike OData, the cross-org adapter directly connects to another org without needing an intermediary web service.
• Custom adapter created via Apex — if the OData and cross-org adapters aren’t suitable for your needs, develop your own adapter with the Apex Connector Framework.

• Request & Reply (SubOptimal Solution):

Use Salesforce web service APIs (REST & SOAP) to make ad-hoc data requests to access and update external system data.

For all Design Patterns, please refer this.