Mention the steps you took to move data from source to the bronze layer.

Moving data to the bronze layer is the first step in a multi‑tier data lake architecture. First, I identify the source systems (e.g., relational databases, APIs, log files) and determine the extraction method—SQL queries, REST calls, or file transfers. Next, I schedule the extraction using a workflow orchestrator (Airflow, Prefect) to run at appropriate intervals. During extraction, I capture metadata such as timestamps and source identifiers. The raw data is then stored in a raw format (Parquet, Avro) in the bronze layer, preserving its original structure. I apply minimal transformations: data type casting, null handling, and basic validation to ensure data integrity. I also generate lineage information and store it in a catalog (AWS Glue Data Catalog, Hive Metastore). Finally, I set up monitoring and alerting to detect extraction failures or schema drift. This approach keeps the bronze layer as a faithful, immutable copy of the source, enabling downstream silver and gold layers to perform more aggressive transformations.