Data Pipeline Architectures

Comprehensive guides to various data pipeline architectures with explanations, trade-offs, and interactive flow diagrams. Master the art of building scalable data systems.

Pipeline Architecture Patterns

Explore different architectural patterns for building robust and scalable data pipelines. Each pattern includes detailed explanations, trade-offs analysis, and implementation guidance.

Found 12 architectures

FinTech Neo-Bank Real-Time Pipeline

High-performance real-time data pipeline for neo-banking with fraud detection, credit scoring, and regulatory compliance.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaApache FlinkPostgreSQLRedisAWS+2 more
Latency:Ultra-low (<100ms for fraud, <500ms for scoring)
Throughput:10K transactions/sec
Scalability:Excellent (5x growth in 18 months)
Cost:High (40K€/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:Ultra-low latency for fraud detection (<100ms)
Compliance:Complex regulatory requirements (PSD2, GDPR)
Cost:High infrastructure costs for real-time processing

Use Cases:

Real-time fraud detectionDynamic credit scoringPSD2 open banking compliance+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

ETL Batch Pipeline with Apache Airflow

Traditional Extract, Transform, Load pipeline for processing large volumes of data in scheduled batches.

Medium Complexity
Apache AirflowPythonPostgreSQLPandasDocker
Latency:High (hours to days)
Throughput:High (GBs to TBs per batch)
Scalability:Good
Cost:Low to Medium

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:High latency due to batch processing
Throughput:High throughput for large datasets
Cost:Cost-effective for large data volumes

Use Cases:

Data warehouse populationBusiness intelligence reportingHistorical data analysis+1 more
View Details
Batch Processing

Retail Legacy Migration Pipeline

Data pipeline for traditional retail transformation, migrating from legacy SAP systems to modern analytics platform.

High Complexity
Apache AirflowSAP ECC6PostgreSQLPythonAWS Glue+1 more
Latency:Medium (hourly updates for stock, daily for analytics)
Throughput:500GB/day processing
Scalability:Good (20% annual growth)
Cost:Medium (250K€/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Migration Risk:High risk due to legacy system complexity
Cost Savings:Significant long-term cost savings
Timeline:Long migration timeline (24 months)

Use Cases:

Legacy system migrationMulti-store retail analyticsInventory optimization+2 more
View Details
Batch Processing

Kafka Stream Processing Pipeline

Real-time data processing pipeline using Apache Kafka for high-throughput, low-latency streaming applications.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaKafka StreamsJavaDockerZookeeper
Latency:Very Low (milliseconds to seconds)
Throughput:Very High (millions of events per second)
Scalability:Excellent
Cost:Medium to High

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:Very low latency for real-time processing
Complexity:Higher complexity compared to batch processing
Scalability:Excellent horizontal scalability

Use Cases:

Real-time analyticsFraud detectionLive dashboards+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

HealthTech HIPAA-Compliant Pipeline

HIPAA-compliant data pipeline for telemedicine platforms with real-time medical alerts and predictive analytics.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaApache FlinkPostgreSQLRedisAWS+1 more
Latency:Critical alerts <1s, risk scores <5s
Throughput:100K consultations/day
Scalability:Excellent (10x growth in 18 months)
Cost:Medium (50K$/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Compliance:HIPAA compliance adds complexity but ensures patient safety
Latency:Critical medical alerts require sub-second latency
Cost:HIPAA compliance and real-time processing increase costs

Use Cases:

Telemedicine platformsMedical IoT monitoringPredictive healthcare+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

Lambda Architecture

Hybrid architecture combining batch and stream processing for both real-time and batch analytics with fault tolerance.

High Complexity
Apache SparkApache KafkaApache HadoopApache StormDocker
Latency:Low (real-time) + High (batch)
Throughput:Very High (both layers)
Scalability:Excellent
Cost:High

Key Trade-offs:

Data Consistency:Eventually consistent data between batch and speed layers
Complexity:High operational complexity with two processing paths
Fault Tolerance:Excellent fault tolerance and data durability

Use Cases:

Big data analyticsReal-time dashboardsMachine learning pipelines+2 more
View Details
Hybrid Architecture

Manufacturing IoT Industrial Pipeline

Industrial IoT data pipeline for smart manufacturing with predictive maintenance and quality control.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaApache FlinkInfluxDBGrafanaOPC-UA+1 more
Latency:Quality control <100ms, maintenance alerts <1s
Throughput:750GB/day across 15 factories
Scalability:Excellent (25 factories in 3 years)
Cost:Medium (40K€/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:Ultra-low latency for quality control (<100ms)
Environment:Hostile industrial environment requirements
Reliability:24/7 production with zero downtime tolerance

Use Cases:

Smart manufacturingPredictive maintenanceQuality control+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

AWS Glue ETL Pipeline

Serverless ETL pipeline using AWS Glue for data transformation and loading with automatic schema discovery.

Medium Complexity
AWS GlueAWS S3AWS RedshiftPythonApache Spark
Latency:Medium (minutes to hours)
Throughput:High (scales automatically)
Scalability:Excellent
Cost:Medium to High

Key Trade-offs:

Cost:Pay-per-use pricing, can be expensive for large datasets
Scalability:Automatic scaling based on data volume and complexity
Vendor Lock-in:Tightly coupled to AWS ecosystem

Use Cases:

Data lake ETLData warehouse populationReal-time data processing+2 more
View Details
Cloud-Native

Event Sourcing Pipeline

Event-driven architecture that stores all changes as a sequence of events for audit trails and temporal queries.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaEventStorePostgreSQLNode.jsRedis
Latency:Low (event capture) + Medium (projections)
Throughput:High (event streaming)
Scalability:Excellent
Cost:Medium to High

Key Trade-offs:

Storage:Efficient storage and retrieval of event sequences
Complexity:Complex event replay and state reconstruction
Audit Trail:Complete audit trail of all system changes

Use Cases:

Audit and complianceTemporal data analysisBusiness process tracking+2 more
View Details
Event-Driven

Media Streaming Analytics Pipeline

High-throughput streaming pipeline for video platforms with real-time recommendations and anti-piracy detection.

High Complexity
Apache KafkaApache FlinkMongoDBRedisElasticsearch+1 more
Latency:Recommendations <100ms, piracy detection <5min
Throughput:2TB/day, 50K events/sec peak
Scalability:Excellent (50% annual growth)
Cost:High (200K$/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:Ultra-low latency for recommendations (<100ms)
Bandwidth:High bandwidth costs for video streaming
Global Scale:Multi-country deployment with regulatory challenges

Use Cases:

Video streaming platformsContent recommendationAnti-piracy protection+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

Insurance OLAP Analytics Pipeline

Massive OLAP data pipeline for insurance companies with actuarial modeling, regulatory reporting, and cross-product analytics.

High Complexity
SnowflakeApache SparkPythonRTableau+1 more
Latency:Dashboards <3s, ad-hoc queries <30s, batch simulations overnight
Throughput:1TB/day processing, 200TB historical data
Scalability:Excellent (30% annual growth)
Cost:High (5M€/year)

Key Trade-offs:

Data Volume:Massive historical data (200TB) with complex OLAP requirements
Analytics Depth:Deep actuarial analysis and regulatory compliance
Cost:High infrastructure costs for massive data processing

Use Cases:

Cross-product insurance analyticsActuarial modeling and risk assessmentRegulatory compliance reporting+2 more
View Details
Batch Processing

High-Frequency Trading Analytics Pipeline

Ultra-low latency data pipeline for retail trading platforms with real-time risk management and compliance monitoring.

High Complexity
Apache PinotTimescaleDBCockroachDBRedisGPU Computing
Latency:Risk calculations <100ms, positions real-time, P&L streaming
Throughput:10M orders/day, 100K concurrent users
Scalability:Excellent (10x growth during volatility)
Cost:Very High (500K$/month)

Key Trade-offs:

Latency:Ultra-low latency (<100ms) for risk calculations
Cost:Expensive infrastructure for high-frequency trading
Compliance:Strict regulatory requirements with audit trails

Use Cases:

Retail trading platformsHigh-frequency tradingRisk management+2 more
View Details
Real-time Processing

More pipeline architectures coming soon!

• Lambda Architecture• Kappa Architecture• Data Mesh• Event Sourcing