Frequently Asked Questions

Expanso runs data-processing pipelines on connected nodes close to where data is generated. Teams define jobs with YAML, target nodes with labels, and use the CLI or control plane to validate, deploy, and monitor work.

Pipeline payloads are processed on customer-controlled nodes. Only configured outputs are sent to destinations chosen by the customer. Managed Expanso Cloud receives operational metadata, including metrics, health, and logs, for fleet coordination.

No, we make them cheaper, faster, and more reliable. Expanso sits upstream of Snowflake, Databricks, Splunk, Datadog, Elastic, and other platforms. We are the data control layer that filters noise, enforces governance policies, and optimizes data before it hits your downstream systems. You keep your existing analytics, observability, and security tools; they just work better and cost less.

A customer-operated private control plane is a qualified design-partner preview; it is not generally available or self-service. Managed Expanso Cloud is generally available. In both models, pipeline payloads do not traverse the control plane; validate the precise metadata, component, security, and support boundaries for the intended deployment.

Expanso Edge executes pipelines on connected nodes. Retry, buffering, delivery, and outage behavior depend on the components and limits configured for each job and destination. Validate failure and recovery behavior under the conditions your deployment must tolerate.

Teams can target connected nodes with labels. Fleet size, throughput, propagation time, and resource use depend on workload, components, hardware, network, and control-plane conditions, so they must be validated for the intended deployment.

Start with the free tier (5 nodes) or pilot a subset of your infrastructure. Most enterprises deploy to 50-100 nodes in the first month and validate cost savings before scaling to thousands of endpoints. Transparent per-node pricing means no surprises; you control the rollout pace. A typical path is pilot (weeks 1-4), validate savings (weeks 5-8), then scale (months 3-6). Actual timing depends on node preparation, credentials, source and destination access, job configuration, and validation.

Free plans use the community Slack, answered on a best-effort basis. Pro adds email support from Expanso. Enterprise agreements add a named success engineer, with support priority and response times set in the agreement itself. Pilot packages include email and Slack support for the length of the pilot. Confirm the support terms that apply to the plan and agreement under consideration.

The documentation contains the current component catalog for inputs, processors, and outputs. Check the exact component page and version for configuration fields, limitations, and delivery semantics.

Jobs are defined in YAML and can use documented processors. Confirm that the required transformation is supported by the current component catalog before committing to a design.

Filtering or aggregating records before a configured output can reduce the volume sent downstream. It does not guarantee a fixed percentage or dollar saving; results depend on the source data, rules, destination pricing, and retained information.

ROI is customer-specific. Establish a baseline, run the intended workload, measure infrastructure and downstream costs, verify operational and data-quality requirements, and calculate the result from observed evidence.

No product component alone establishes regulatory compliance. Expanso configuration can support data-locality and minimization designs, but compliance depends on the complete pipeline, infrastructure, identities, credentials, destinations, procedures, and legal requirements.

Managed Expanso Cloud receives operational metadata, including metrics, health, and logs, for fleet coordination. Pipeline payloads are processed on customer-controlled nodes, and configured outputs go to customer-chosen destinations.