Control Flow vs Data Flow

After my first day of SSIS training my boss walked into the office and said to me, "how was the first day of class". To which I responded, "great!" Then asked me, "so what is the difference between the control flow and data flow?" This posed a simple, but foundational concept, of SSIS. There are a few key things to remember when talking about the differences between control flow and data flow, and not just the completely obvious statement: data flow deals with data. Hopefully if you are beginning in SSIS there will be something in the information below that will help you understand the differences just a little bit better. Control Flow:

Process is the key: precedence constraints control the project flow based on task completion, success or failure
Task 1 needs to complete before task 2 begins
Smallest unit of the control flow is a task
Control flow does not move data from task to task
Tasks are run in series if connected with precedence or in parallel
Package control flow is made up of containers and tasks connected with precedence constraints to control package flow

Data Flow:

Streaming
Unlink control flow, multiple components can process data at the same time
Smallest unit of the data flow is a component
Data flows move data, but are also tasks in the control flow, as such, their success or failure effects how your control flow operates
Data is moved and manipulated through transformations
Data is passed between each component in the data flow
Data flow is made up of source(s), transformations, and destinations.

Hopefully this will help you understand the differences between the control and data flows.

Control Flow vs Data Flow

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