01 / Lakehouse engineering
Databricks Lakehouse: From Source to Analytics
Anonymized case studyThe context
Different source systems need different ingestion behavior, but maintaining a bespoke pipeline for every feed makes onboarding, recovery and change difficult to manage.
The approach
Separate source configuration from reusable ingestion code. YAML files select the appropriate utility suite for APIs, SQL Server, cloud files or Kafka, and define the target bronze tables in Databricks. dbt then builds validated silver models and business-ready gold datasets.
Engineering scope
Source configuration templates, reusable ingestion utilities, Delta bronze tables, dbt silver and gold models, data tests, BI-facing datasets and operational runbooks.
From source to consumption
- 01
Multiple sources
APIs · SQL Server · ADLS / S3 · Kafka
- 02
Configured ingestion
YAML selects source-specific utility code
- 03
Bronze
Raw Delta tables in Databricks
- 04
Silver → Gold
dbt validation, models and business logic
- 05
Consumption
BI reporting and analytics
One configuration pattern, different execution paths
API utilities handle pagination and rate limits; SQL Server utilities manage incremental extraction; file utilities discover landed objects; Kafka ingestion tracks offsets and checkpoints. YAML selects known implementations rather than embedding pipeline logic or secrets.
A clear boundary between ingestion and transformation
Bronze preserves source data and ingestion metadata for traceability and replay. dbt resolves types, keys and quality rules in silver, then defines shared metrics and analytical marts in gold.
Operate the platform as a system
Version configuration and code together, coordinate dbt runs with ingestion readiness, and define ownership for schema changes, failures and backfills. BI and analytics teams consume curated models through governed access.