Infographics & Architecture Gallery
Visual reference guides, architecture diagrams, and educational infographics created by Alex Merced for Data & AI engineers.
The Open Lakehouse Architecture
High-level architectural stack of the Open Lakehouse featuring Ossie, Polaris Catalog, Apache Iceberg, Parquet, Apache Arrow, and object storage.
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End-to-End: Operational Data to AI Insights
Continuous flow of trusted data from operational databases via CDC into an Apache Iceberg lakehouse powering analytics and AI applications.
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The Architecture of Apache Iceberg
Detailed internal breakdown of Apache Iceberg: Catalogs, Table Metadata Layer (JSON, Snapshots, Manifest Lists), Data File Layer, and Compute Engine integrations.
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Apache Spark: Architecture & Functionality Overview
Unified analytics engine: Driver Program, Cluster Manager, Executors, Catalyst Optimizer, Tungsten Execution Engine, Spark SQL/Streaming/MLlib/GraphX, and data abstractions.
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Apache Flink: Architecture & Functionality Overview
Stateful stream and batch processing engine: JobManager, TaskManager, RocksDB state backends, event time watermarking, PyFlink, Table API & SQL.
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Apache DataFusion: Open, Modular Query Engine
High-performance Rust-based query engine leveraging Apache Arrow: query execution lifecycle, logical/physical planning, pushdown optimizations, and integrations.
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Data Modeling: Structure Data. Align Meaning. Drive Value.
Comprehensive visual guide to data modeling: Conceptual, Logical, Physical, and Implementation levels, Dimensional vs 3NF vs Data Vault modeling, and 6-step workflow.
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AI Terminology: Clear Definitions & Mental Models
Visual guide to essential AI terms: Models, Tokens, Context Windows, AI Harness, Memory (Short/Long-term), Training, Fine-Tuning, RAG, and Semantic Layers.
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Inside an Apache Iceberg metadata.json (V3)
Internal JSON schema of Iceberg V3 table metadata: table UUID, location, schemas, partition specs, sort orders, snapshot logs, refs, and delete vector settings.
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Inside an Apache Iceberg V3 Manifest List
Avro-encoded index pointing to manifest files per snapshot: sequence numbers, added/existing/deleted file counts, partition summaries, and aggregate column stats.
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Inside an Apache Iceberg V3 Manifest File
File-level metadata listing data files: column sizes, value counts, null/nan counts, lower/upper bounds, and delete vector references for fast query planning.
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Apache Iceberg V3: Equality Deletes vs Deletion Vectors
In-depth comparison of Iceberg V3 row-level delete mechanisms: Equality Deletes (value-level) vs Deletion Vectors (bitsets), query performance, and sweet spots.
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Apache Iceberg Snapshot Management
Managing snapshots for time travel, data protection, performance, and cost control: time-based, count-based, hybrid, and reference-aware retention.
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Apache Iceberg Table Compaction
Solving the small file problem: Full compaction, partition compaction, incremental/rolling, size-tiered, and sort-assisted compaction techniques.
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Apache Iceberg Table Maintenance Operations
Core maintenance operations: Optimize files, Vacuum, Expire Snapshots, Rewrite Data Files, Recalculate Stats, Clean Orphan Files, and Rebuild Manifests.
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Streaming to an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse
Approaches, patterns, and best practices for streaming into Iceberg: Engine-native (Flink/Spark), Landing zone microbatch, CDC replication, and Append-only.
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The Architecture of Apache Polaris
An architectural overview of Apache Polaris Catalog: API layer, Metadata service layer, pluggable persistence, extension framework, and engine ecosystem.
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The Architecture of Apache Arrow
Columnar in-memory data layout, validity bitmaps, offset buffers, data buffers, and the Apache Arrow ecosystem across languages and engines.
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The Architecture of an Apache Parquet File
Deep dive into Apache Parquet file layout: File headers, horizontal Row Groups, vertical Column Chunks, statistics, and File Footers.
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The Architecture of Apache Ossie (Incubating)
The open standard for semantic models in the Open Lakehouse: model structure, JSON serialization, transport, discovery, and projections.
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The Architecture of Model Context Protocol (MCP)
2026 specification breakdown of Model Context Protocol (MCP): hosts, stateless core, extensions framework, MCP servers, and enterprise integrations.
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Be More Productive with AI and Agents
Overview of Alex Merced's 6 practical AI guides covering OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, Open Models, Google AI, Microsoft Copilot, and Grok & Cursor.
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