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Google Cloud Datastream

Datastream is Google Cloud's serverless change data capture and replication service, streaming changes from Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and Spanner into BigQuery and Cloud Storage with minimal latency.

LicenseCommercial
DeploymentManagedServerless
PricingSubscription
Operational complexityLow
WorkloadStreaming
Visit Google Cloud DatastreamDocumentation

Use it when

  • Operational data should land in BigQuery continuously with nothing in between; the direct path with a tunable staleness limit is why the service exists.
  • You want zero replication infrastructure: serverless, no instance to size or patch, backfill handled by the same service.
  • Sources span MySQL, PostgreSQL (including AlloyDB), Oracle, SQL Server, and Spanner, plus SaaS applications like Salesforce and ServiceNow.
  • Billing should follow volume: per GiB processed, flat-rate backfill, 500 GiB free monthly.

Think twice when

  • The destination is not Google: targets are BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Iceberg, with Dataflow templates bridging elsewhere; outside Google Cloud it is rarely the answer.
  • Changes must be transformed in flight; Datastream replicates and nothing more, transformation happens in BigQuery after landing.
  • Schema drift includes type changes; new columns and tables replicate, type changes do not.

How it runs

Fully managed and serverless: configure a source (with redo logs, row binlog, or a publication and slot enabled per engine) and a destination, and the service streams changes with at-least-once delivery and event UUIDs for deduplication.

Details

Compare

How Google Cloud Datastream answers the questions Change Data Capture turns on.

Change Data Capture
How it works
Initial snapshotBackfill handled by the same service
End-to-end lagSeconds, tuned by the BigQuery staleness limit you set
Delivery guaranteeAt-least-once: event UUIDs for deduplication
Schema driftHandled: new columns and tables replicate; type changes don't
Running it
What you runNothing: serverless; no instance to size or patch
Connections
SourcesMySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, Spanner; MongoDB in preview
Source requirementsOracle redo logs, MySQL row binlog, Postgres publication and slot
TransformationsNone: replication only; transform in BigQuery after landing
DestinationsBigQuery, Cloud Storage; Iceberg tables
Cost
Billing unitPer GiB processed, with backfill flat-rate and 500 GiB free monthly

Tags

cdccommercialmanaged-servicereal-timestreaming

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