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Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse
book

Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse

by Alex Merced
April 2026
Beginner to intermediate
408 pages
13h 26m
English
Manning Publications

Overview

Design an Apache Iceberg lakehouse from scratch!

The “lakehouse” data architecture is a powerful way to combine the flexibility of data lakes with the management features of data warehouses. The open source Apache Iceberg framework delivers the scalability, reliability, and performance you want from a lakehouse without the expense and vendor lock-in of platforms like Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift.

In Architecting an Apache Iceberg Data Lakehouse, data guru Alex Merced shows you:

  • How to create a modular, scalable Iceberg lakehouse architecture
  • Where Spark, Flink, Dremio, Polaris fit into your design
  • Reliable batch and streaming ingestion pipelines
  • Strategies for governance, security, and performance at scale

Apache Iceberg is an open source table format perfect for massive analytic datasets. Iceberg enables ACID transactions, schema evolution, and high-performance queries on data lakes using multiple compute engines like Spark, Trino, Flink, Presto, and Hive. An Iceberg data lakehouse enables fast, reliable analytics at scale while retaining the observability you need for compliance audits, governance, and provable data security.

About the Technology
Apache Iceberg is an open data format that lets data lake files work like database tables. It helps turn a data lake into a more reliable and capable lakehouse.

About the Book
Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse shows you how to design an open, scalable, and cost-effective lakehouse platform with Apache Iceberg. More than a set of blueprints, the book explains the reasoning behind the architecture. You’ll build a mini lakehouse by ingesting sales and marketing data from PostgreSQL into Iceberg tables with Apache Spark and then create interactive dashboards in Apache Superset. You’ll appreciate expert Alex Merced’s real-world insights about operating an Iceberg lakehouse.

What's Inside
  • Create a modular, scalable Iceberg lakehouse architecture
  • Fit Spark, Flink, Dremio, Polaris and more into your design
  • Batch and streaming ingestion pipelines
  • Governance, security, and performance at scale


About the Reader
For data architects familiar with the basics of a data lakehouse.

About the Author
Alex Merced is Head of Developer Relations at Dremio. He shares his expertise through videos, podcasts, and articles, and leads the DataLakehouseHub.com community.

Quotes
I can think of no one better to tell us how this technology works than Alex Merced, who has dedicated a whole season of his career to just this task.
- From the Foreword by Tim Berglund

Gives you the practical grounding to build with confidence, and maybe even enjoy the process.
- Matt Topol, Apache Iceberg PMC Member

Building a lakehouse without this book is like building a house without foundation.
- Roy Hasson, Microsoft

The author’s passion and competence shine through in every chapter of this book.
- Joe Reis, co-author of Fundamentals of Data Engineering

Breaks down the complexities of Apache Iceberg into a practical, no-nonsense guide.
- Zhenni Wu, PuppyGraph

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Publisher Resources

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