This broad collection of diverse data reflects information from across the enterprise.

The Great “Caspian”: Just like the Caspian is a large body of water, this type of lake is a large, broad repository-diverse set of data.

As a result, describing things in such massive terms makes the concept of a lake inaccessible to those who can benefit from them on a smaller scale. This certainly makes the use of data lakes intimidating.

Unfortunately, the “big data” angle gives the impression that lakes are only for “Caspian” scale data endeavors. Each has a natural state, often reflecting ecosystems of data, just like those in nature reflect ecosystems of fish, birds, or other organisms. Just as they do in nature, lakes come in all different shapes and sizes. Yes, There Are Different Types of Data Lakes The good news is that lakes are not just for 'big data' and you have more opportunities than ever to have them be part of your data stack. People describe data lakes as massive, all-encompassing entities, designed to hold all knowledge. One area that can be particularly confusing is the perception that lakes are only for 'big data.' If you spend any time reading materials on lakes, you would think there is only one type and it would look like the Capsian Sea (it’s a lake despite “sea” in the name). This topic has historically been confusing and opaque for those wanting to get value from a data lake due to conflicting advice from consultants and vendors. It is called ' What is a Data Lake ? Get A Leg Up Avoiding The Biggest Myths.' In that article, we framed the current conversation about data lakes and how they fit within enterprise data strategies.

We recently wrote an article debunking common myths about data lake architectures, data lake definitions, and data lake analytics.

Ephemeral lake