Google BigQuery Previews Cross-Region SQL Queries for Distributed Data

"In the background, BigQuery automatically handles the data movement required to execute the query, giving you a seamless, zero-ETL experience for multi-location analytics. BigQuery identifies different parts of the query that must be executed in different regions and runs them accordingly. Next, results of these partial queries are transferred to a selected location when the main query is run (with an optimization attempt to minimize the size of transfer)."

"The new option lets developers run SQL queries across data stored in different geographic regions without first moving or copying the data to aggregate the results. Removing the need for ETL pipelines, global queries automatically fetch and combine results from each region, simplifying analytics for companies with distributed datasets while letting them control where the query runs."

Google Cloud introduced a global queries preview feature for BigQuery that allows developers to run SQL queries across data stored in different geographic regions without copying or moving data first. The feature automatically handles data movement in the background, identifying query parts that must execute in different regions and combining results at a selected location. This eliminates the need for ETL pipelines, simplifying analytics for companies with distributed datasets while maintaining control over query execution location. Developers can combine transaction data from multiple regions with customer data using standard SQL, making multi-location analysis faster and more efficient than traditional centralization approaches.

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