What is BigQuery?
BigQuery is Google Cloud’s fully managed, serverless data warehouse for analytics at any scale. The service separates storage and compute, enabling independent scaling of each. You can analyze petabytes of data in seconds using standard SQL without managing any infrastructure.
Core Features
- Serverless Architecture: No cluster management, automatic scaling, pay only for what you use
- Petabyte Scale: Analyze massive datasets in seconds with distributed query execution
- BigQuery ML: Train and deploy machine learning models using SQL directly in BigQuery
- Real-time Streaming: Ingest and analyze streaming data in real-time
- Geospatial Analysis: Native support for geographic data types and functions
Typical Use Cases
Business Intelligence
Connect BigQuery to Looker, Tableau or other BI tools for interactive dashboards. BI Engine provides sub-second query responses for demanding visualizations.
Log and Event Analytics
Centralize application logs and events in BigQuery for analysis. Query terabytes of log data in seconds to identify issues and trends.
Data Science and ML
Data scientists query data directly in BigQuery and train models using BigQuery ML. No data movement required between storage and ML platforms.
Benefits
- Sub-second queries on petabyte-scale data
- No infrastructure management or capacity planning
- Built-in machine learning with SQL
- Seamless integration with the entire GCP data stack
Integration with innFactory
As a Google Cloud Partner, innFactory supports you with BigQuery: data warehouse architecture, migration from on-premises or other cloud DWH, query optimization and cost management. We help build modern data platforms.
Available Tiers & Options
On-Demand Pricing
- No upfront cost
- Pay only for queries run
- Automatic scaling
- Can be expensive for heavy usage
- Less predictable costs
Editions (Standard/Enterprise)
- Autoscaling with reserved capacity
- Advanced security features
- Predictable pricing
- Minimum commitment required
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
How is BigQuery different from traditional databases?
BigQuery is optimized for analytical queries across petabytes of data using a serverless architecture. Traditional databases are designed for transactional workloads with row-based storage.
Can I query data without loading it into BigQuery?
Yes, BigQuery supports external tables that query data directly from Cloud Storage, Google Drive, or Cloud Bigtable without importing.
What is BigQuery ML?
BigQuery ML enables creating and executing machine learning models using standard SQL queries, without moving data or learning Python/TensorFlow.
How does BigQuery pricing work?
On-demand pricing charges per TB scanned. Flat-rate and Editions pricing provides dedicated capacity for predictable costs. Storage is billed separately at low rates.
