Big data refers to a process that is used when traditional data mining and handling techniques cannot uncover the Insights and meaning of the underlying data. Data that is unstructured or time sensitive or simply very large cannot be processed by relational database engines.

Big data can be described in terms of data management challenges that – due to increasing Volume, velocity and variety of data.

Three V’s of big data:

Volume: Ranges from terabytes to petabytes of data

Variety: Includes data from a wide range of sources and formats (e.g. web logs, social media interactions, eCommerce and online transactions, financial transactions, etc)

Velocity: Increasingly, businesses have stringent requirements from the time data is generated, to the time actionable insights are delivered to the users. Therefore, data needs to be collected, stored, processed, and analyzed within relatively short windows – ranging from daily to real-time.

How is Big Data used in the Cloud?