The Integration Runtime or IR is the compute infrastructure for Azure Data Factory pipelines. It is the bridge between activities and linked services. It's referenced by the linked service or activity and provides the compute environment where the activity is run directly or dispatched. This allows the activity to be performed in the closest region to the target data stores or compute service.
The following diagram shows the location settings for Data Factory and its integration runtimes:
Azure Data Factory Integration Runtime
Source:docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/concepts-integration-runtime
There are three types of integration runtime supported by Azure Data Factory, and one should choose based on their data integration capabilities and network environment requirements.
Azure Integration Runtime: To copy data between cloud data stores and send activity to various computing services such as SQL Server, Azure HDInsight, etc.
Self-Hosted Integration Runtime: Used for running copy activity between cloud data stores and data stores in the private networks. Self-hosted integration runtime is software with the same code as the Azure Integration Runtime, but it is installed on your local system or virtual machine over a virtual network.
Azure SSIS Integration Runtime: It allows you to run SSIS packages in a managed environment. So, when we lift and shift SSIS packages to the data factory, we use Azure SSIS Integration Runtime.
