Informatica's Change Data Capture (CDC) mechanisms are designed to capture and process changes made to source data in real-time or near real-time. This allows for efficient and up-to-date data replication and integration. Here's a breakdown:
Core Concept :
- CDC aims to identify and extract only the data that has been modified, inserted, or deleted in the source system, rather than processing the entire dataset.
- This approach significantly improves performance and reduces resource consumption compared to traditional batch processing.
Informatica's Approach :
- Informatica provides capabilities to implement CDC through its PowerExchange product, as well as through connectors that interact with database CDC functionalities.
- PowerExchange CDC :
- This component is a key part of Informatica's CDC strategy.
- It can capture changes from various database logs (e.g., Oracle redo logs, SQL Server transaction logs).
- It enables real-time or near real-time data replication.
- Connectors:
- Informatica also offers connectors that work with the native CDC capabilities of databases. For example, connectors that work with Microsoft SQL server CDC.
- These connectors allow Informatica to efficiently retrieve change data from supported databases.
- Key aspects of CDC within Informatica:
- Log-based CDC:
- A prevalent method where changes are captured by reading database transaction logs. This is efficient and minimizes the impact on source systems.
- Real-time or Near Real-time:
- CDC enables the continuous flow of change data, providing up-to-date information to target systems.
- Reduced Resource Usage:
- By processing only changed data, CDC minimizes network traffic and processing load.
Benefits of CDC :
- Real-time Data Integration:
- Provides timely access to updated data.
- Improved Performance:
- Reduces processing time and resource consumption.
- Reduced Impact on Source Systems:
- Minimizes the load on production databases.
