Every ML failure I have debugged traces back to unversioned data.
Code has Git.
ML data has DVC, lakeFS, Delta Lake, and Iceberg.
Most teams use none of them.
Here is the data versioning landscape and how to pick,
grouped into 3 capability areas:
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐
โ Reproduce a model months later without guessing
โก Debug regressions: was it the code or the data
โข A/B test with different data snapshots
โฃ Roll back bad training data before it hits production
๐๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง
โค DVC: Git-like, works with any storage, best for file-level ML datasets
โฅ LakeFS: Git for object storage, branch/merge on S3, best for lakehouse workflows
โฆ Delta Lake: table-level time travel + versioning, best for Databricks/lakehouse
โง Iceberg: open table format with snapshots, best for multi-engine environments
๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐๐ค
โจ File-based ML datasets (images, audio, docs): DVC
โฉ Lakehouse-native workflows on S3: LakeFS or Iceberg
โช Databricks or Delta-committed shops: Delta Lake native
โซ Snowflake shops adopting open formats: Iceberg via Polaris
Unversioned data is the #1 hidden cause of "the model was working last week."
Real senior data engineers make data versioning the default,
Not an afterthought triggered by a production incident.
The gap between "our model is broken and we do not know why"
And "we rolled back to yesterday's data snapshot in 10 minutes"
Is where data versioning earns its keep.
Which tool are you using today? ๐
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