This page provides a high-level overview of e6 query engine architecture. It introduces the key constructs of e6data query engine and describes the deployment models we support.
The e6data Console where you manage your account, workspaces, billing, and global access control. This is what you see when you sign in at the e6data URL. The Control Plane is shared across all your workspaces - it doesn’t process queries or touch your data.
The workspace-scoped environment where catalogs, clusters, and queries live. You enter a Compute Plane by opening a workspace from the Control Plane. Each workspace has its own Compute Plane, which includes the SQL Editor, the catalogs you’ve connected, the clusters you’ve created, Run History, Access Control, Service Accounts, and Settings.
Stays in your cloud account. e6data reads data directly from S3, ADLS Gen2, or your Iceberg/Hive metastore. It never copies your data into a separate store.
Within an account, a tenant is your organization. Multiple users belong to one tenant, and resources (workspaces, catalogs, clusters) belong to a tenant.
A workspace is an isolated environment for a team or project. It has its own Compute Plane, catalogs, clusters, and access control. You can have one workspace or many - separate workspaces for prod vs. dev, or per business unit, are both common patterns.When you create a workspace, you choose a Workspace Type (Serverless or In Your VPC), a Cloud Provider (AWS or Azure), and a Region where your data resides.
A cluster is the compute that runs your queries inside a workspace. Each cluster has a Cluster Runtime (CRT) version, a Cluster Size (for example, XS, S, M), and optional Autoscaling, QPS-based scaling, and Auto-Suspension configuration. Clusters can be connected to one or more catalogs.
A catalog connects e6data to your metastore so it can discover databases, tables, and columns. Supported catalog types: Hive Metastore, AWS Glue, Databricks Unity, Microsoft Fabric (OneLake), Apache Polaris, Iceberg REST Catalog, and AWS S3 Tables.
e6data offers two deployment models. In both, the Control Plane (workspace management, access control, monitoring, releases) is hosted by e6data, and your data always stays in your cloud account - only the Compute Plane differs.
Serverless
In Your VPC
Compute Plane (clusters, planners, executors)
Runs in e6data’s cloud
Runs in your Kubernetes cluster (EKS, AKS)
Catalog metadata, query history
e6data
Your cluster + your cloud storage
Your data
Your cloud account, never moved
Your cloud account, never moved
Query traffic
To e6data’s managed compute
Stays entirely within your network
You manage
Nothing - fully managed
The Kubernetes cluster, IAM, and storage lifecycle
e6data fully manages the Compute Plane in its own cloud, eliminating the need to operate Kubernetes or infrastructure. Secure, short-lived cloud identity federation provides access to your storage without storing long-lived credentials.Choose Serverless when you want the fastest start, don’t need to host compute yourself, and want e6data to handle scaling and upgrades. Less ideal when compliance mandates compute inside your VPC, you have strict data-locality needs, or you’re air-gapped.Set up: AWS Serverless · Azure Serverless.
The Compute Plane runs within your Kubernetes cluster, ensuring query traffic remains inside your private network. You manage the underlying infrastructure and cloud IAM, while e6data manages the platform software, releases, and workspace lifecycle.Choose In Your VPC when security or compliance requires compute inside your VPC, you’re in a regulated industry, or your data sources have no public routing. Less ideal when you want the fastest start or don’t have a platform team to run the cluster.Set up: AWS In-VPC / CloudPrem · Azure In-VPC / CloudPrem.
