Cloud native refers to a modern approach in data storage and architecture, as well as software development and deployment that harnesses the capabilities of cloud computing environments to build, deploy, and manage applications. It emphasizes scalability, resilience, and agility by leveraging cloud-based tools and resources.
Cloud-native applications are designed to fully utilize the advantages the cloud offers, enabling efficient operations in various cloud environments.
Cloud Native in Location Intelligence
Within Location Intelligence, being cloud-native means creating and running applications optimized for cloud environments. For instance, CARTO facilitates a direct connection with the cloud-based data warehouse (i.e.BigQuery, Redshift, Snowflake, Databricks, or PostgreSQL) without requiring migration or extensive Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) processes. This seamless integration allows leveraging native SQL functionalities across the CARTO platform while harnessing the geospatial capabilities inherent in the data warehouse.
Moreover, CARTO's Analytics Toolbox functions are not merely connected to but installed and operated natively within the data warehouse environment. This native integration augments the data warehouse's geospatial capabilities, ensuring a comprehensive and unified approach to spatial analytics and processing.
CARTO’s Cloud Native Approach
GIS, within organizations, has primarily been run on in-house or on-premises data centers, or data racks that live inside the organization. That happened because GIS and other analytics technologies were made to run on a user’s computer and many times the data infrastructure that they connect to was also run on an internal data system. Plus, it prevented any security breach, ensuring the access control to the network and to the data.
Cloud technologies have advanced to cover these technology and security needs, and nowadays, cloud data warehouses offer even better resources to increase performance and scalability. While some GIS software claim to be cloud native, they often only have an integration with cloud data warehouses, needing to extract data from the cloud before running analysis.
In contrast, CARTO's true cloud-native approach leverages cloud resources for a rapid deployment of infrastructure and cost-savings. In consequence, users experience seamless scalability and performance when handling large datasets for geospatial analysis.
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