Table of Contents
  • BI connections. BigQuery enables you to collect and use data through the BI (business intelligence) Engine. BigQuery BI Engine is an in-memory data analysis and visualization resource. It integrates with other tools in the Google suite, and its SQL interface enables integrations with a variety of other BI tools and applications.
  • Machine learning. BigQuery ML is a built-in tool that enables you to perform predictive analytics or use machine learning to get deeper insights from data.
  • BigQuery command-line tool. You can use the handy reference to understand the syntax required to perform various complex functions.
  • REST and RCP APIs. BQ offers a REpresentational State Transfer API (Application Programming Interface) as well as a Remote Procedure Call API. Both of these have different uses and restrictions.
  • ACID compliance. ACID is a set of properties: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability.
  • IAM. Identity and Access Management is a security measure Google implements across their software and services for enhanced data safety. It requires users to confirm their identities and restricts access depending on various security measures; for example, two-step verification.
  • Query data from different sources in various formats. BQ lets you transfer and batch-load data as well as automate data ingestion from Google Cloud, Google Drive, and other sources. Just a few of the usable formats include Firestore, Datastore, JSON, and CSV.

With the amount of data being created yearly reaching in the dozens of zettabytes and growing rapidly from year to year, companies have had to find creative solutions to manage big data. That is why loading terabytes of data in minutes or seconds for processing may be absolutely necessary for some businesses. This is the kind of speed and functionality that BigQuery gives.

So, what is BigQuery? The Google Cloud suite offers a wide variety of services for every industry. BigQuery is one of these services: a multi-cloud fully managed data warehouse solution. It offers full integration with Google's BI tools and utilizes the Google Cloud Console.

  1. BigQuery Architecture and Features
  2. Benefits of BigQuery
  3. BigQuery Pricing
  4. BigQuery Integration with Integrate.io

BigQuery Architecture and Features

Big data involves datasets that are too large for some types of software. BigQuery manages such datasets with ease and includes many powerful features.

Architecture

BQ is serverless and specially designed for agility. It features a decoupled architecture for on-demand scaling. Google built BigQuery on top of Dremel for performing SQL queries, but the software also includes infrastructure based on Colossus (storage), Borg (mixers and slots), and Jupiter (data transfer).

Because of the decoupled architecture, you can begin using BigQuery at any time with any volume of data. It requires very little setup or preparation.

Features

Integrate.io lets you build secure data pipelines and perform ETL. We offer native connectors to BigQuery, allowing you to integrate data seamlessly with little or no code.

Benefits of BigQuery

Many companies use BQ, though its market share is behind several competing brands. Where exactly does BigQuery's competitive edge lie? There are three specific advantages:

  1. Speed. BigQuery can query incredibly large datasets in a matter of seconds.
  2. Integration. You can use BigQuery to integrate with Google's suite of tools including BigQuery BI and BigQuery ML.
  3. Cloud-based. You can perform data integration entirely in the cloud.
  4. Simple setup. BigQuery is easy to set up and scale.
  5. Real-time updates. Google stays well on top of any fixes, updates, and extra features as needed.
  6. Extremely reliable. With the infrastructure of Google behind it, BigQuery offers reliable service like few other solutions. After all, people always know what kind of quality to expect from Google.

The speed and reliability of BigQuery make it ideal for real-time or near-real-time analytics. If these benefits are causing you to think that it is the best solution for you, the next logical question would regard pricing.

BigQuery Pricing

One of the biggest pros of BigQuery is also one of the biggest cons depending on the user you talk to.

There are two aspects of pricing for BQ. The first is the cost of storage itself (storage pricing), and the second is the cost for querying data (analysis pricing).

BigQuery offers various tiers. The free tier allows users to test out the service. It gives 10 GB of free storage and one TB of query data processed each month.

The two analysis pricing models offered are on-demand and flat rates. On-demand means you only pay for what you use. A flat rate means that you pay for a dedicated 'slot' for a given amount of time, whether it be only 60 seconds, 30 days, or a full year. Flat-rate pricing will cost you less if you are querying large amounts of data, but on-demand is ideal for smaller sets or for trying out the service. It can also be useful if you aren't sure how much you will need since flat-rate pricing comes only in increments of 100 slots. Unfortunately, costs can end up running much higher than expected if not carefully monitored. On-demand pricing costs $5 per TB.

Pricing may also vary depending on the ingestion mode: batch loading or streaming.

Some functions are entirely free within certain limits, including copying, exporting, deleting, and loading datasets, as well as metadata operations and creating UDFs (User-Defined Functions).

Integrate.io saves you additional costs by letting you create data pipelines with no coding, significantly reducing the employee time and experience required.

BigQuery Integration With Integrate.io

Integrate.io is an ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) platform that allows users to pull insights from various sources, including BigQuery, or transfer data for storage. We provide an intuitive drag-and-drop GUI (Graphical User Interface) to reduce the time and effort spent creating data pipelines and ETL pipelines. You can secure your data in transit and at the source between BigQuery's built-in security measures and Integrate.io's field-level encryption. Additionally, Integrate.io provides you with the capability of handling a gigantic volume of data with ease.

Expand your capabilities with a fast, simple ETL solution. To discover more details about how Integrate.io works and what we can do for your company, schedule an intro call with us and request your seven-day demo.