What is "data lake"

n. A massive, easily accessible data repository built on (relatively) inexpensive computer hardware for storing "big data". Unlike data marts, which are optimized for data analysis by storing only some attributes and dropping data below the level aggregation, a data lake is designed to retain all attributes, especially so when you do not yet know what the scope of data or its use will be.

A data lake is a method of storing data within a system that facilitates the collocation of data in variant schematas and structural forms, usually object blobs or files. Hadoop, Azure Storage and the Amazon S3 platform can be used to build data lake repositories.