Query Databricks Iceberg Tables from BigQuery Without Copying Data Using Google Cloud

At a glance

With Google Cloud's boundaryless Lakehouse, BigQuery can directly query Apache Iceberg tables managed by Databricks without replicating the data. Both platforms read the same files, which can reduce storage costs and latency. Security settings can also be managed in one place.

Key points

1. 1

   Iceberg is an open table format that lets multiple analytics tools read the same data files.

2. 2

   Data is read where it is originally stored, so no replication pipeline is needed.

3. 3

   Table information comes from Databricks Unity Catalog, and storage is read using temporary access tokens.

4. 4

   Queries read only the needed files by using metadata, which improves execution speed and reduces costs.

Why it matters

Organizations that use several data platforms together can manage costs and security without copying data.