Google previews direct Iceberg queries in AlloyDB

Google Cloud announced preview access that lets AlloyDB for PostgreSQL query Apache Iceberg tables in Cloud Storage and join them with live operational data in one SQL query. It also made AlloyDB sync and Lakehouse federation generally available. Direct access reads historical tables where they reside, using AlloyDB's columnar engine on the application's database instance. Sync instead copies BigQuery data into local AlloyDB tables on a chosen schedule, while federation sends most processing to BigQuery and returns results. These options give application developers different ways to combine transactional and historical data. Direct Iceberg access requires a PostgreSQL 18 instance; synchronized copies are only as fresh as their last refresh.