Confluent Announces General Availability of Tableflow and Flink Native Inference
Confluent has announced the general availability of Tableflow, the Apache Iceberg-based functionality that it first revealed a year ago. The company also launched Flink Native Inference, a new Apache Flink-based capability designed to make it easier to implement AI inference on streaming data.
Tableflow: A Simplified Data Ingestion Solution
Tableflow makes it easy for customers to stream any data flowing in a Kafka topic directly into a data lake as a table in the Apache Iceberg format. In addition to the data, Tableflow grabs associated metadata, enabling the table to get all the benefits of Iceberg management, including support for ACID transactions.
Flink Native Inference: Real-time AI Inference on Streaming Data
Flink Native Inference is designed to run machine learning or AI models against streaming data, eliminating the need to take the data out of Confluent Cloud and increasing latency and privacy concerns. With Flink Native Inference, customers can run arbitrary machine learning models against streaming data, all hosted within the Confluent Cloud.
Additional Flink Capabilities
Confluent has also announced two other Flink capabilities: Flink Search, which gives customers a way to perform vector searches across MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Pinecone within Confluent Cloud’s Flink SQL; and Built-in ML Functions (early access), which brings access to Confluent-developed algorithms for data science tasks, including forecasting, anomaly detection, and real-time visualizations.
Conclusion
Confluent’s latest announcements demonstrate the company’s commitment to simplifying data ingestion and enabling real-time AI inference on streaming data. With the general availability of Tableflow and the launch of Flink Native Inference, Confluent is providing customers with the tools they need to harness the power of their data and stay ahead of the competition.
FAQs
- Q: What is Tableflow?
A: Tableflow is a new feature in Confluent Cloud that enables customers to stream any data flowing in a Kafka topic directly into a data lake as a table in the Apache Iceberg format. - Q: What is Flink Native Inference?
A: Flink Native Inference is a new capability in Confluent Cloud that enables customers to run machine learning or AI models against streaming data, eliminating the need to take the data out of Confluent Cloud and increasing latency and privacy concerns. - Q: What are the benefits of Tableflow?
A: Tableflow provides a simplified data ingestion solution, enabling customers to stream any data flowing in a Kafka topic directly into a data lake as a table in the Apache Iceberg format. It also grabs associated metadata, enabling the table to get all the benefits of Iceberg management, including support for ACID transactions.
