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Understanding your workspace options

Nekt works in two ways:
  • Nekt Express: A cloud environment hosted and managed by Nekt. You get a workspace in minutes with no AWS or GCP account. Ideal for companies that don’t have a cloud environment or prefer not to involve their infrastructure team. Your data is stored and processed in Nekt’s secure, managed environment.
  • Your own cloud (AWS or GCP): Nekt runs inside your organization’s cloud. You keep full ownership and control of data and resources; Nekt uses your existing infrastructure for storage and compute.
Cloud is configured per workspace, so different workspaces in the same organization can run on different clouds. The sections below describe how Nekt operates when you use your own cloud. If you use Nekt Express, the environment is fully managed by Nekt and you don’t need to configure or monitor cloud resources yourself.

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Understanding Cloud

Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services (including storage, processing, databases, and analytics) over the internet (“the cloud”). Instead of owning and maintaining physical data centers and servers, organizations can rent access to technology services from a cloud provider on-demand. In the context of data operations, the cloud offers:
  • Scalability: Easily scale storage and compute resources up or down depending on your data volume or processing needs.
  • Elasticity: Dynamically handle variable workloads, which is critical for data pipelines and analytics processes.
  • Cost Efficiency: Pay only for what you use, avoiding the capital expense of buying hardware and maintaining infrastructure.
  • Security and Compliance: Leading cloud providers offer built-in security features and compliance certifications.
  • Collaboration: Cloud platforms enable teams to access, analyze, and collaborate on data from anywhere.
Organizations typically operate in one of three models:
  • Public Cloud: Services offered by third-party providers like AWS, GCP, or Azure.
  • Private Cloud: Cloud environment operated solely for one organization, often on-premises or hosted.
  • Hybrid or Multi-Cloud: A mix of public and private clouds or multiple public cloud providers for flexibility and redundancy.

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How Nekt Operates in Your Cloud

When you use your own cloud (AWS or GCP), Nekt operates directly within your organization’s cloud environment, ensuring data remains secure, accessible, and under your control. Unlike traditional platforms that require external storage, Nekt leverages your existing cloud infrastructure to manage and process data efficiently.

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Data Storage

Nekt stores your data in your cloud environment, ensuring full ownership and control. Whether it’s raw data, processed datasets, or analytics-ready tables, all data resides within your infrastructure.

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Processing

Transformations and computations are executed using your cloud’s native resources, such as compute and storage services, ensuring scalability and performance.

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Centralized Management

While your data remains in your cloud, Nekt provides a centralized platform to manage and orchestrate your workflows, simplifying data operations and aligning with your governance policies.
Keep your cloud up to dateWe might ask you to update our permissions in your cloud environment as we develop new features. Every time we request that, a heads-up banner will appear on the top of your workspace and you just need to accept the pre-filled form (feel free to check it first to understand the modifications being made). This applies when your workspace runs on AWS or GCP; Nekt Express workspaces are managed by Nekt and do not require these updates from you.

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Supported workspace environments

  • Nekt Express: Fully managed cloud environment hosted by Nekt. Set up in minutes; no cloud account required. Best for teams that want to get started quickly without their own AWS or GCP.
  • AWS: Fully supported when you bring your own cloud, leveraging services such as S3 for storage and EC2 for compute.
  • Coming soon: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure for bring-your-own-cloud workspaces.

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Why Nekt Operates in Your Cloud

When you use your own cloud, Nekt’s architecture aligns with modern cloud strategies, offering a secure, efficient, and scalable way to manage your data directly within your infrastructure.

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Key Benefits

  • Enhanced Security: By keeping data in your cloud, Nekt minimizes exposure to external risks and ensures compliance with your security standards.
  • Full Ownership: Your data never leaves your environment, ensuring you retain complete control and ownership.
  • Cloud-Native Scalability: Leverage your cloud’s elastic resources to scale workloads seamlessly as your data needs grow.
  • Cost Efficiency: Avoid additional costs by utilizing your existing infrastructure for storage and processing.

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Monitoring Cloud Resources Used by Nekt

When your workspace runs on your own AWS or GCP account, the data storage and processing that happens in your cloud generates some cost. To see how much of your monthly cloud bill is related to Nekt, you can use a tag to filter it in AWS Cost Explorer or GCP Billing. (If you use Nekt Express, infrastructure is managed by Nekt and you don’t need to track this in AWS or GCP.)
  1. From your AWS console, go to Billing and Cost Management > Cost allocation tags.
  2. You’ll find an inactive tag called nekt:Service. Please, select it and click the ‘Activate’ button on the top-right corner.
  3. Once you’ve done that, this tag will become available within 24 hours on your Cost Explorer page as a filter. You’ll then be able to view the costs related to Nekt.

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How Nekt Stands Out

When you use your own cloud, Nekt integrates directly into your cloud infrastructure instead of moving data to external systems. This offers significant advantages:
  • No Data Movement: Reduces latency and eliminates risks associated with transferring data between environments.
  • Seamless Integration: Works with your existing cloud-native tools and services for a unified workflow.
  • Customizable Resources: Lets you configure cloud resources based on your workload, optimizing performance and cost.

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Future-Proof Your Data Strategy

As organizations increasingly adopt multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments, Nekt’s architecture is designed to adapt. By integrating with your existing infrastructure, Nekt ensures flexibility and scalability, whether you’re expanding workloads, migrating to new providers, or embracing advanced analytics.

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Need Help?

If you have questions about Nekt Express, how Nekt operates in your own cloud environment, or need assistance with configuration, reach out to our support team. We’re here to help.