In all of my conversations about data, the same words and phrases keep coming up – agility, performance, security, governance, the heterogeneity of data sources (data silos), and ease of access, just to name a few. I use them so often sometimes they seem like buzzwords and catch-phrases. In a perfect world, I would never have to use them at all, because they would simply not be needed.
In this post, I will explain how a data services layer (DSL) powered by the Denodo Platform can create a perfect world scenario in which these terms will begin to seem obsolete. Unfortunately, in the process, I’ll reference yet another buzzword. Spoiler alert: that buzzword is “future-proof.”
Data Services Layers, Defined
What exactly is a DSL? It is a virtual data layer that exposes underlying data sources as data services, most commonly web services. Discrete data services, on their own, are designed to answer specific queries in a specific way, which gives them speed, agility, and manageability, and they are easy to govern. However, their features are too narrow in scope to provide enterprise-wide data delivery.
A full-fledged DSL, enabled by the data virtualization capabilities of the Denodo Platform, is able to combine all the benefits of data services with the ability to deliver any and all data services drawing on any and all data sources, through a common, virtual layer. Factor in the Denodo Platform’s support for multiple access protocols, enabling the web services to access the source data in their preferred format and with the best performance, and it starts to become clear that DSLs have the ability to conquer agility, bust data silos, and provide the ultimate in ease of access. In short, a DSL can be a buzzword killer!
Law and Order
“Hold on,” you might say, “exposing all enterprise data to a single common layer sounds risky!” This brings us to security and governance. A Denodo DSL enables you to see who accessed data and when, what queries they performed, and the result sets that were returned. It also offers data masking down to the level of the individual cell, and change-impact analysis across multiple heterogeneous systems, including both structured and unstructured data sources. This is important in all industries and is especially critical in regulated industries dealing with private or confidential data. Security achieved!
Into the Future
Now it is time to drop the other buzzword I mentioned, as we come to the future-proof aspects of DSLs. This aspect of data services environments is often overlooked, but it is critical.
Data services are good at what they do, in part because of how simple it is to connect them for delivering data. One downside to this simplicity is that a service can crash if the underlying data or data sources are changed. Whether data is migrating elsewhere, a new data source is being added, or any other change is occurring, such crashes can be a very real threat to your data delivery uptime.
A Denodo DSL prevents these crashes by creating a buffer between the services and the sources. Your services remain connected to the DSL no matter what changes are occurring underneath, because the Denodo Platform enables you to connect to essentially any source with very little impact on performance. This means that you can configure your underlying architecture to your heart’s content while preparing for any new technologies for years to come.
When you establish a DSL using the Denodo Platform, you future-proof data delivery for your entire enterprise. When our customers’ data is more easily accessed with less downtime, they see increased demand and a stronger return on their investments. If you are considering a move to data virtualization, consider that the future never waits.
- Successful Cloud Migrations Made Easy - March 16, 2020
- Data Services Layers: The Buzz (Word) Killer - June 26, 2019
- The Data Lake: A High-Level Perspective of Challenges and a Solution - December 5, 2018