What must you do first to enable HTAP integration with Azure Synapse Analytics for an Azure Cosmos DB account?

To enable Hybrid Transactional and Analytical Processing (HTAP) integration with Azure Synapse Analytics for an Azure Cosmos DB account, the first step is to enable Azure Synapse Link within Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Synapse Link allows seamless integration between Cosmos DB and Azure Synapse Analytics, enabling real-time analytics on operational data stored in Cosmos DB without the need for data movement.

By enabling Azure Synapse Link, you can perform analytics queries against your transactional data in Azure Cosmos DB without impacting the performance of your operational workloads. This feature facilitates the synchronization of data between Cosmos DB and Synapse Analytics, thereby supporting hybrid data scenarios where you can leverage the transactional capabilities of Cosmos DB alongside the powerful analytical insights of Azure Synapse.

The other options, such as configuring global replication, creating a dedicated SQL pool, or deleting existing containers, do not address the core functionality needed to establish the HTAP integration. They may involve configurations that are relevant in other contexts but do not directly initiate the process of connecting Azure Cosmos DB with Azure Synapse Analytics for HTAP purposes.