One example method includes receiving, by a central analytics system, a query for traffic flow data associated with a geographically distributed network of network devices, outputting, by the central analytics system, the query to a plurality of analytics pods, wherein each of the plurality of analytics pods is coupled to a storage unit of a network device within the geographically distributed network, and, responsive to outputting the query, receiving, by the central analytics system and from the plurality of analytics pods, results of the query, wherein the results include at least the traffic flow data from the plurality of analytics pods based on the query.