What is a data connector?

A data connector is the part of a data pipeline that reads from one source system: it knows how to log in, what to ask for, how to page through results and how to fetch only what changed since last time. A pipeline has one connector for each source, such as the ERP, the scale system or a spreadsheet folder.

Ready-made connectors

For mainstream software, connectors come off the shelf. Fivetran, a data integration vendor, says its directory covers data "from 750+ sources". Its documentation says "Each connector handles schema changes, API updates, and incremental syncs automatically", and for anything else it offers a "Connector SDK, which lets you develop a custom data connector". Those are the vendor's claims about its own product.

Timber systems

Specialised timber systems, such as scale house software, optimisers, kiln controllers and older lumber ERPs, rarely appear by name in generic catalogues; we found none on that documentation page. Many can still be reached. The same page lists database and file connectors, such as SQL Server and SFTP, and many specialised systems store data in a standard database or export files.

So connecting is often not the hard part. Knowing what the tables and fields mean is: which column holds net volume, which status means a load was rejected, which date is the scale date. No catalogue connector supplies that, and it usually needs someone who knows the system.

What a good connector does

It fetches only new and changed records, so it can run often. It notices when the source changes shape, such as a renamed column, and says so rather than failing silently. It handles late records, such as tickets entered days after the load. It keeps a count of what it read, so every record can be accounted for downstream.

What it isn't

A connector isn't the whole pipeline. It reads; other steps convert, join and check. Nor is it the same as a connector in an AI assistant, which reads live on request rather than copying data on a schedule.

How Quarri works explains the platform as a layer over existing systems, not a migration.

Quarri is an AI-native data platform for the timber supply chain. It connects buying, production, sales and inventory for forest management, sawmill, wood products and pulp, paper and packaging operators.