Overview
Use data sources to connect to the data that matters most for your business.
Census connects to a variety of data sources to power your syncs and data activation workflows. These sources include:
Data Warehouses & Databases: Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, PostgreSQL, and more
SaaS Platforms: Salesforce, HubSpot, and other business applications
Streaming Sources: Kafka, Confluent Cloud, Google Pub/Sub
File Uploads: CSV files for ad-hoc or one-time data needs
This flexibility allows you to use Census as a Universal Data Platform, unifying data from multiple sources and activating it across your business tools.
The menu to the left lists all of the data sources that Census currently supports. If you don't see your data source listed, please let us know!
Source Types
Data Warehouses & Databases
Data warehouses and databases serve as powerful central repositories for your business data. Census connects directly to these sources to leverage your existing data models and transformations.
SaaS Platforms
SaaS platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot contain valuable business data. Census can create SaaS Datasets directly from these sources, making it easy to work with your CRM data alongside your warehouse data.
Streaming Sources
For real-time use cases, Census connects to streaming sources like Kafka and Confluent Cloud. These connections power Streaming Datasets that enable low-latency data activation.
File Uploads
For ad-hoc or one-time data needs, Census supports CSV Datasets that can be uploaded directly through the UI.
Data Warehouse-Specific Features
The following sections apply specifically to data warehouse and database connections (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, PostgreSQL, etc.). SaaS, streaming, and file upload sources have different connection methods and considerations, which are detailed in their respective documentation pages.
️ Sync Engines for Data Warehouses
When connecting a data warehouse source, Census offers two methods of connecting and keeping track of what's been synced (a.k.a. "state tracking"). We call these Sync Engines. When connecting a data warehouse for the first time, we'll ask you to select either Basic or Advanced Sync Engine.
While your experience of the Census product will be identical either way, there are some important differences between these two options:
State tracking location
Census infrastructure
Your data warehouse
Sync performance
Slower
Faster
Ease of setup
Very easy
Slightly more involved
Warehouse permissions
Read-only access
Read/write access
Ability to switch
Ability to upgrade to advanced (coming soon)
Not possible to downgrade to basic
If you have any questions about which Sync Engine is right for you, please reach out to our support team.
Allowed IP Addresses for Data Warehouses
Most data warehouse sources require allowlisting IP Addresses so that Census's systems can access data from the source. BigQuery and Databricks are notable exceptions, so do check the source-specific docs if you have any questions.
If your data warehouse is protected by a firewall, please add Census's IP addresses to the allowlist. You can find Census's set of IP address for your region in Regions & IP Addresses.
Data Warehouse Usage
Census performs automated processes and queries on your data warehouse, even when a sync isn't running. This activity may appear in your internal reporting but is essential to ensure Census operates efficiently and effectively on your behalf. Census generally has a very minor impact on data warehouse usage.
These processes and queries include and are not limited to:
Reading metadata from the warehouse
Regular health check queries
Clicking into a Dataset
Clicking into a Segment
Adding or removing a filter in a Segment
Segment size refresh
Previewing a Dataset
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