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Automated maintenance

To maximize query performance and minimize storage utilization, Atlan performs Iceberg table maintenance operations regularly.

Maintenance operations​

Atlan runs table maintenance on a nightly basis using Atlan-managed Spark infrastructure. The maintenance includes all recommended Iceberg operations:

  • Expiring snapshots: Removes old table snapshots
  • Removing old metadata files: Cleans up outdated metadata
  • Deleting orphan files: Removes data files no longer referenced
  • Compacting data files: Consolidates small files for better performance
  • Rewriting manifest files: Optimizes metadata structure

For more information on Iceberg maintenance best practices, see the Apache Iceberg maintenance documentation.

Impact on queries​

Table maintenance operations don't impact your queries. The maintenance runs on Atlan infrastructure independently of query execution. Once tables are optimized (for example, after data files are compacted), new queries benefit from the improvements immediately.

See also​