Data Ingestion
Data Ingestion
What is it?
Data Ingestion is the process of transporting data from diverse external sources to a storage medium where it can be accessed, used, and analyzed. It is the “entry point” of the data platform.
Ingestion methods typically fall into three categories:
- Batch Ingestion: Moving large chunks of data at scheduled intervals (e.g., daily dumps).
- Streaming Ingestion: Moving data in real-time or near real-time as it is generated (e.g., event logs).
- Change Data Capture (CDC): Reading database logs (binlogs) to replicate changes (insert, update, delete) instantly to the destination without querying the production database directly.
Why is it Important?
- Centralization: It brings scattered data (Salesforce, Stripe, MySQL, App Logs) into a single location (Data Lake/Warehouse) for holistic analysis.
- Data Freshness: Modern CDC and streaming allow businesses to react to events (e.g., fraud detection, cart abandonment) in seconds rather than days.
- Decoupling: It shields production systems (Sources) from heavy analytical queries by offloading the read pressure to a dedicated analytical environment.
Well-known Solutions
- SaaS Connectors: Fivetran, Airbyte (Open Source), Stitch.
- Streaming/Events: Apache Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, Redpanda.
- CDC Engines: Debezium, Qlik Replicate.