Spoon is the design interface for building ETL jobs and transformations. Spoon provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to graphically describe what you want to take place in your transformations. Transformations can then be executed locally within Spoon, on a dedicated Data Integration Server, or a cluster of servers.
The Data Integration Server is a dedicated ETL server whose primary functions are:
| Execution | Executes ETL jobs and transformations using the Pentaho Data Integration engine |
| Security | Allows you to manage users and roles (default security) or integrate security to your existing security provider such as LDAP or Active Directory |
| Content Management | Provides a centralized repository that allows you to manage your ETL jobs and transformations. This includes full revision history on content and features such as sharing and locking for collaborative development environments. |
| Scheduling | Provides the services allowing you to schedule and monitor activities on the Data Integration Server from within the Spoon design environment. |
Pentaho Data Integration is composed of the following primary components:
- Spoon. Introduced earlier, Spoon is a desktop application that uses a graphical interface and editor for transformations and jobs. Spoon provides a way for you to create complex ETL jobs without having to read or write code. When you think of Pentaho Data Integration as a product, Spoon is what comes to mind because, as a database developer, this is the application on which you will spend most of your time. Any time you author, edit, run or debug a transformation or job, you will be using Spoon.
- Pan. A standalone command line process that can be used to execute transformations and jobs you created in Spoon. The data transformation engine Pan reads data from and writes data to various data sources. Pan also allows you to manipulate data.
- Kitchen. A standalone command line process that can be used to execute jobs. The program that executes the jobs designed in the Spoon graphical interface, either in XML or in a database repository. Jobs are usually scheduled to run in batch mode at regular intervals.
- Carte. Carte is a lightweight Web container that allows you to set up a dedicated, remote ETL server. This provides similar remote execution capabilities as the Data Integration Server, but does not provide scheduling, security integration, and a content management system.
What's with all the Culinary Terms?
If you are new to Pentaho, you may sometimes see or hear Pentaho Data Integration referred to as, "Kettle." To avoid confusion, all you must know is that Pentaho Data Integration began as an open source project called. "Kettle." The term, K.E.T.T.L.E is a recursive that stands for KettleExtraction Transformation Transport Load Environment. When Pentaho acquired Kettle, the name was changed to Pentaho Data Integration. Other PDI components such as Spoon, Pan, and Kitchen, have names that were originally meant to support a "restaurant" metaphor of ETL offerings.