ETL and How it Changed Over Time

What Is ETL?

ETL is the abbreviation for Extract, Transformation, and Load. In simple terms, it is just copying data between two locations.[1]

  • Extract: The process of reading the data from different types of sources including databases.
  • Transform: Converting the extracted data to a particular format. Conversion also involves enriching the data using other data in the system.
  • Load: The process of writing the data to a target database, data warehouse, or another system.

ETL can be differentiated into 2 categories with regards to the infrastructure.