Which data repository stores both unstructured and structured data?

• A. Data lake
• B. Data store
• C. Data silo
• D. Data mart

Answer: (A)

The ability to hold both unstructured and structured data in its native form is what defines a data lake. A data lake ingests and stores data in many formats—from relational table dumps and CSVs to sensor logs, text files, JSON, images, audio, and video—without requiring upfront modeling. Because it uses schema-on-read, the structure is applied when you retrieve and analyze the data, giving flexibility to explore and process data in multiple ways. This makes it ideal for data science, big data, and exploratory analytics where you don’t know in advance what you might need to analyze. Other repositories are designed for structured data with predefined schemas for fast reporting, or are isolated stores that don’t integrate with others.