# How Streambased is different Most analytical systems must first ingest data before making it available to downstream applications and users. Streambased is different in that it provides accelerated views of the data from the source system. For instance, when a query is executed with Streambased against Apache Kafka, the data is read from Kafka, not from Streambased. By taking this approach we can guarantee that any data provided by Streambased is completely consistent with the system in which it was created (Kafka). No more lagging stream processing or ETL, Streambased provides the freshest data available at the point of querying. Streambased isn't just consistent in the data it provides, it's also consistent in the governance applied to it. Streambased reuses metadata and policies form the source system to ensure that any ACLs or lineage available in Kafka is mirrored in the analytical system. Streambased users no longer have to apply governance once in the operational realm and once more in the analytical realm. Streambased turns disparate systems and flows into a single data estate! --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.streambased.io/analytics-with-real-time-data/how-streambased-is-different.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.