By now, you would have definitely heard about this remarkable software that is taking over the field of Business Intelligence – Tableau. Many large organizations currently use Tableau for its data visualization needs, and this is because of the ease of use that Tableau offers.
However, how does Tableau itself function? How is it designed? The general features of the architecture of Tableau are given below.
The Most Common Version of Tableau
Tableau Desktop is the most common version, which runs on a desktop as the name suggests. It is highly robust, and users can visualize data with ease with it. Tableau server, on the other hand, is designed so as to connect the many tiers of data between the various versions of Tableau. The architecture of the Tableau Server is discussed here.
What are Different components of Tableau Server software?
There are various layers to the Tableau Server software, which are called its different components.
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Data Server
The main component of the Tableau Server is the many data sources that it can link up with. Tableau is extremely cross-functional, which means that it can get data from a flat file, excel sheet or even a web application provided that access is given. The server is in charge of consolidating the data from all of these sources and building a relationship between them.
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Connectors
These are in charge of providing and maintain connections between any external data sources which may be necessary to the server mentioned above. The software has the option to either use live or extracted data, depending upon your requirements. The former is real-time, as the name suggests. This means that the software does not have to import the data in order to analyze or visualize it. The latter, on the other hand, is stored in local copies either in the RAM, ROM, or cache memory. This means that the processing speed will be higher, and the user will be able to conduct data visualizations offline without needing the data source.
The Different components in the data server are the Application server, Data server and the VizQL server. All of them have a different function, which can be understood with some extended research.
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Gateways
These are in charge of channeling the various requests that the user may have to the appropriate places in order to get them done. When any client makes a request, the gateway distributes it to various processes depending upon what the required product is. It is also a load balancer at times, ensuring that no component is crowded by requests from the client.
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Clients
Different platforms will be able to view the dashboards and the visualizations in Tableau server, and these are the Tableau Desktop, web browser and the mobile applications. This represents the fourth layer in the architecture of Tableau and the one which projects the visualizations.
If you are interested in becoming proficient in Tableau and trying a career in Business Intelligence, you must ensure that you have the requisite knowledge. Check out the courses available at Acadguild for more details and a comprehensive understanding of Tableau!
