What Virtual Tables Are
Dataverse tables backed by external data (SQL, SharePoint, custom REST). Schema lives in Dataverse; data stays external. Read-write for some providers.
OData Provider
Most common. Map Dataverse columns to OData fields. Out-of-box setup; usable with any OData 4.0 source.
When to Use
Reference data in another system, dashboards that need fresh data, avoiding duplication costs. If the data doesn’t need to live in Dataverse, federation is cheaper than sync.
When Not
High-volume transactional writes — latency through the virtual table adds up. Complex queries that need joins across real + virtual tables can perform poorly.
Performance
Cache aggressively where possible. Filters that push down to the source perform well; ones that don’t cause full-table pulls.