I've often seen it recommended to extract data out of a data source into a parquet file into a cheap file storage like Azure Blob or s3 buckets... what is the value of adding this step when all I'm doing is copying it on into a SQL Database?

Often, in small teams, we find ourselves handling a wide spectrum of tasks related to data, including Data Analytics, Engineering, and Machine Learning. I believe many of us are in that versatile position in our careers. I joined as a Product Analyst and am currently the entire Data team at my company 😄. This situation has led me to wonder about what title makes more sense when introducing myself. Is anyone else facing a similar dilemma? I've come across titles like 'Data Specialist,' 'Data Analytics Engineer,' and 'Data Generalist.' Are there any other titles that convey a more nuanced or meaningful description of roles similar to these?

Hello! Welcome to The Modern Data Community. The goal of this community is to help Data Engineers on small (or solo) teams confidently build modern architectures by simplifying key concepts, clarifying common strategies & learning from others. Pumped to have you here! ==================== HOW IT WORKS ==================== By joining, you get instant access to tons of free content (see Classroom). Dive right in. But even more can be unlocked by contributing to the Community, which I encourage you to do. It works like this: Contribute (post/comment) >> Get points (likes) >> Reach new levels >> Unlock content ==================== 6 SIMPLE GUIDELINES ==================== ❌ Do not post error messages looking for others to debug your code. That's why Stack Overflow and other tool-specific Slack channels exist. ❌ Do not use this community for self-promotion (unless Admin approved). We all know it when we see it. ❌ Do not create low-quality posts with poor grammar/spelling or that provide little (or no) value. These will be deleted. You can do better! ✅ Ask questions, share your experiences & overall be a good person. This not only helps everyone get better, but can help you unlock bonus content faster. Win-Win. ✅ Speaking of wins, share yours! Whether it's finally solving a complex problem, hitting a team milestone or starting a new gig - post about it. You'll get the props you deserve and it just might inspire somebody else. ✅ Take the time to craft thoughtful posts & always proof-read before hitting submit. We're all about quality here. High quality posts --> more engagement (aka you'll climb the leaderboard & unlock content) --> ensures the community stays enjoyable for everyone. ==================== QUICK LINKS ==================== Here are a few links to help you get going: - Classroom - What's Your Data Stack? - Leaderboard - Work with me (Kahan Data Solutions)

It's one thing to read articles or watch videos about perfectly crafted data architectures and think you're way behind. But back here in reality, things get messy & nothing is ever perfect or 100% done. Most of us are usually working on architectures that are: - Old & outdated - Hacked together - Mid-migration to new tools - Non-existent Or perhaps you're one of the lucky ones that recently started from scratch and things are running smoothly. Regardless, the best way to learn what's working (and not working) is from others. I believe this could be one of the best insights this community can collectively offer each other. So let's hear it. What does your data stack look like for the following components? 1. Database/Storage 2. Ingestion 3. Transformation 4. Version Control 5. Automation Feel free to add other items as well outside of these 5, but we can focus on these to keep it organized.