Data Lake

A repository of data from disparate sources that is stored in its original, raw format. Like data warehouses, data lakes store large amounts of current and historical data. What sets data lakes apart is their ability to store data in a variety of formats including JSON, BSON, CSV, TSV, Avro, ORC, and Parquet. Typically, the primary purpose of a data lake is to analyze the data to gain insights. However, organizations sometimes use data lakes simply for their cheap storage with the idea that the data may be used for analytics in the future.