No, data lake and
data warehouse are not synonymous terms, nor is data lake simply an updated
version of data warehouse. The only thing they have in common is that they are
both data repositories.
Let's look at what
distinguishes the two.
Structure
of Data
A warehouse's data
is structured and processed. A lake's data can be structured, semi-structured,
unstructured, or raw. The latter simply stores data in any form, whereas the
former has a set of rules for storing data.
Storage
Costs
Storage in Hadoop,
which is used by data lakes, is less expensive than storage in data warehouses.
Because Hadoop is open source, licencing and community support are free.
Furthermore, Hadoop is designed to run on low-cost commodity hardware. Although
the cost of warehouse storage has decreased dramatically over time, the labour
required for data structuring remains prohibitively expensive.
Approach
to Processing
To enter data into
a warehouse, you must use a schema-on-write approach, which means the data must
be modelled and shaped before it is entered. However, for a lake, you don't
need to think twice before dumping data into it - simply load it in whatever
shape you want. When you want to retrieve and use it, structure or model it;
this is known as the schema-on-read approach.
Flexibility
Because there are
no set rules for data lakes, any query, model, or app can be easily modified.
On the contrary, changing the structure of something in a data warehouse will
take time and effort because it is linked to other business processes.
Safety
Because data
warehouses are the traditional data repositories and have been around for a
long time, they are safe. When it comes to data security, data lakes are still
in their infancy compared to warehouses.
Users
Given the stage of
maturity that data lakes are currently at, it is primarily data scientists who
are flocking to use them. Due to the costs involved, data warehouses are not
accessible to everyone.
The objectives of
the two data repositories are not the same. As a result, choose with the end
goal in mind.
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