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What Are Data Federation Tools and Why Use Them?
Tired of drowning in fragmented data? Feeling overwhelmed by content spread out everywhere—from databases, apps, and files, to various cloud platforms? How can you easily find and access what you need when it’s stored in so many disparate locations?
Data federation is the answer. Let’s discover what this valuable tool does and how it works to provide instant, queryable access to all your data at once.
If you’re already using or considering data federation tools, RAW helps you take it further by building APIs that connect your data to your platform seamlessly.
What is Data Federation?
In essence, data federation is the process of combining and querying data from multiple different sources without physically moving or duplicating it. Instead of copying data into a central repository, like a data warehouse, it creates a virtual unified view across all your sources on demand. This provides real-time access to all the various original sources and allows you to run queries across them as if they were one.
What are Data Federation Tools?
These are the technologies that make data federation and complex data management possible. They connect to various data sources, build the virtual layer, and enable real-time querying across all of them without the need for complex infrastructure.
How Do Data Federation Tools Work?
Data federation tools connect directly to your data sources, wherever they are. As we’ve covered, they don’t move the data or create duplicates.
Instead, they build a virtual layer that allows you to query everything in place. Behind the scenes, a federation tool interprets the structure of each source (even raw, semi-structured, or unstructured data) and makes it instantly queryable.
When you run a query, the tool:
- Translates your request to match the structure and logic of each underlying source
- Executes sub-queries in parallel across all sources, wherever the data lives
- Aggregates and unifies the results into a single, real-time response
What Types of Data Can Be Queried Using a Data Federation System?
A good data federation tool can query structured (databases, warehouses, etc), semi-structured (HTML, XML, NoSQL, etc), or unstructured (text, multimedia, etc), and even real-time data, whether it’s stored in the cloud, on-prem, or elsewhere.
What Are the Benefits of Data Federation Compared to Traditional Data Warehousing?
No Need to Move or Duplicate Data
Data federation queries data where it lives, removing the need for time-consuming ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes or creating multiple copies of the same information.
Real-Time Access to Live Data Across Systems
Your insights are always completely up to date, as you access live data directly from the source, with no delays from scheduled data loads.
Faster Setup and Lower Maintenance
As they eliminate the need to build and maintain a central repository, like a data warehouse, federation tools are far faster to deploy and easier to manage.
Reduced Storage Costs
Since you’re not storing redundant copies of data, storage costs are significantly lower compared to traditional warehousing.
Greater Flexibility Across Sources and Formats
As mentioned, data federation tools can handle structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data from various sources, making integration simpler and more adaptable.
How Can a Federation System Help You Work With Disparate Data Sources?
A federation system removes the friction of working with scattered, inconsistent data by presenting it as one queryable layer, no matter where or how it’s stored. For technical users, this allows for faster development and easier debugging, without the need to build and maintain complex ETL pipelines. They can focus more on analysis than on the infrastructure.
Non-technical users get access to unified insights without having to understand where the data lives or how it's formatted. With intuitive queries or APIs, they can explore and act on live data without relying on constant engineering support.
In short, data federation tools bridge the gap between complexity and usability. They help teams collaborate, innovate, and make decisions with confidence regardless of their technical skill level.
What Is the Difference Between Data Federation and Data Integration?
Both data federation and data integration aim to bring data together, but they do this in different ways.
Integration typically involves physically moving or copying information from multiple data sources into a single system, like a data warehouse. This usually happens via processes like ETL (Extract, Transform, Load), which can be time-consuming and create data duplication.
On the other hand, data federation leaves the data where it is, creating a virtual layer that lets you access and query it across different systems without needing to move it. Put simply, it’s a virtual bringing together of data rather than a physical one.
What Is the Difference Between Data Federation and Data Virtualization?
Data federation and data virtualization are very similar, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. But here’s the difference:
Data federation is actually a form of data virtualization that supports complex data scenarios. As mentioned, it focuses specifically on pulling together data from different sources and presenting it as a unified view, without copying or moving the data. You can query across multiple sources at once.
Data virtualization is the broader concept. It includes federation but also encapsulates other capabilities, such as abstracting, securing, or optimizing the performance of data. So, all data federation is also data virtualization, but not all data virtualization is data federation.
In short, federation is one way to virtualize data, but virtualization just goes a bit further in terms of features and flexibility.
How Does RAW Support Your Data Federation Tool?
RAW allows you to build APIs that connect your data to your data federation tool, enabling instant, unified access to all of your data without the need for copying, moving, or waiting.
Faster Time to Insight
Why wait days for a pipeline to run? With RAW, you can build APIs that allow you to access and analyze your data instantly. No pulling information into another system and waiting for cleaning or format conversion; just real-time querying. Spend less time waiting and more time acting on insights.
Query Data Across Where It Lives
Data spread across files, databases, and multiple cloud platforms doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Query it all right where it’s situated without moving a single byte. One unified view with no duplication. It’s data access that meets you where you are.
Cut Costs
Storage-heavy data warehouses and complex ETL pipelines are expensive. So let’s get rid of them. Query across multiple places, skip transformation, and free your team of data wrangling. This kind of efficiency literally pays off.
Compliance-Friendly
Work with sensitive data without the need to copy or move it. Because your source data stays put, you reduce the risk of unnecessary exposure while maintaining full control. Stay compliant while being fast and flexible.
Flexible and Scalable
Whether you’re connecting two data sources or twenty, RAW’s APIs grow with you. Scale seamlessly across cloud, on-prem, or file systems, enabling a robust data lake. No rigid setup, just the freedom to build your data stack your own way.
Work With Raw, Semi-Structured, and Unstructured Data
If your data doesn't fit in neat rows and columns, that's not a problem. Data comes in all forms and can be messy, so our APIs automatically transform your content into AI-friendly data with no extra prep needed. Query raw and unstructured formats natively, without the need for cleaning or reformatting.
Let’s discuss your data needs
Cut the Pipeline. Deliver Live Data to Your Federation Tool via an API
No matter how or where you store your data, whether it's raw, unstructured, or semi-structured, we make it easy to build APIs that bridge your data (wherever and however it's stored) with your federation tools. No need for pre-modeling, duplication, or a lengthy pipeline setup. Simply enjoy instant access via powerful APIs.
Our Process: Raw Data to Shareable Insights In No Time
- Connect your data: From files to databases to cloud storage to SaaS tools, our APIs connect it all, no matter the structure, and convert it into clean, AI-ready formats automatically while maintaining data quality.
- Query it instantly: Use Snapi, our simple SQL-like language, to ask questions across your entire data landscape without moving or pre-processing anything
- Get real-time results: Your query runs on live data, so you always get fresh and relevant information with no lag
- Turn it into an API: You don’t want to have to rerun your query every time you want information. Instead, easily turn any query into an AI-powered API to automatically get valuable details time and time again in a shareable, scalable format
- Plug into your other systems: Use BI dashboards, workflow automation tools, or AI agents? Your new API can feed them directly. It’s structured, secure, and ready to go wherever and whenever you need it.
Federated Data Use Cases Made Easy with RAW APIs
360 Customer View
Combine customer data from CRM, support tickets, marketing platforms, and more to get a complete, up-to-date picture without moving data or building complicated pipelines.
Real-Time Inventory Management
Query live data from warehouse databases and sales platforms to track inventory levels instantly and avoid over- or understocking.
Personalized Marketing Campaigns
Collect user behavior from apps, emails, or your website and use this to power AI-driven personalization through APIs that feed your campaign tools.
Regulatory Compliance Audits
Access sensitive or financial data across multiple sources without duplicating or moving it, enabling quick and secure audit reporting while maintaining data governance and privacy.
Product Performance Response
Pull data from website analytics and customer feedback systems to analyze product performance holistically and respond faster to user trends.
Talk to our experts to find the ideal solution for your needs
