Why architecture matters here

CDC fails on snapshot mismatches, schema drift, and ordering assumptions. Architecture matters because log + snapshot + schema combine.

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The architecture: every piece explained

The top strip is capture. Source DB. WAL / binlog reader. Snapshot. Change stream.

The middle row is semantics. Schema evolution. Delivery semantics. Ordering. Downstream sinks.

The lower rows are practice. Debezium / connectors. Metrics. Ops — snapshot restart + PII.

CDC — log-based + snapshot + schema evolution + delivery semanticsstream every change from source DBSource DBPostgres / MySQL / MongoWAL / binlog readerlog-based captureSnapshotinitial stateChange streamKafka / KinesisSchema evolutionadd / remove colsDelivery semanticsat-least-once + dedupOrderingper-key partitionDownstream sinkswarehouse / cache / searchDebezium / connectorscommon frameworksMetricslag + driftOps — snapshot restart + PII + retentionevolvesemanticorderconsumereusewatchwatchoperateoperate
CDC pipeline from log to downstream sinks.
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End-to-end flow

End-to-end: connector starts with snapshot; streams past rows to Kafka. Switches to WAL tail. Every change flows keyed by PK. Warehouse consumes for analytics; cache for read-through. Schema evolves; connector emits schema events.