Understanding engine types

StreamSets provides two engine types. When you create a StreamSets environment, you select the engine type to configure.

Data Collector
Data Collector is a self-managed runtime engine for processing streaming jobs. You run Data Collector engines near where the data resides, which can be on-premises or on a protected cloud computing platform.
When you create a flow, the version of the associated Data Collector engine determines the stages and other functionality that you can use when you create Data Collector flows. The engine also runs the Data Collector flows that you create.
StreamSets developed the Data Collector engine over many years. The engine includes stages that you can use to process data from a wide range of systems and to perform in-flight processing. The engine also provides advanced features, such as data drift handling and event-based dataflow triggers that perform tasks in Data Collector and external systems.
Use Data Collector engines to process streaming flows with a single origin and advanced Data Collector features.
Jetstream
Jetstream is an engine that executes jobs on a Flink installation on Confluent Platform.
As with Data Collector, the version of the associated Jetstream engine determines the stages and other functionality that you can use when you create Jetstream flows. Unlike Data Collector, the Jetstream engine does not process Jetstream flows. Instead, the engine passes Jetstream flows to Flink for processing.
Jetstream is a modern engine that is based on Data Collector and is optimized to run on Flink. The engine includes certain Data Collector stages and features. The engine also includes Jetstream-only stages and features, such as using multiple origins within a flow. Because Jetstream flows run on Flink, the flows can perform window-based transformations, such as joins and aggregates, on windows of time.
You can use a Flink cluster that is embedded with the Jetstream engine to quickly get started with configuring and testing Jetstream flows. You can currently use a limited set of stages in Jetstream flows.
Use Jetstream engines if your environment includes Flink on Confluent Platform.