---
title: "What is Big Data?"  
description: "According to McKinsey, Big Data refers to datasets whose size are beyond the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage and"  
author: "Chris Anderson"  
published: 2014-09-19  
updated: 2014-09-19  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/691/what-is-big-data  
category: "cloud computing"  
tags: ["cloud computing"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What is Big Data?

According to McKinsey, Big Data refers to datasets whose size are beyond the ability of typical [database software](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/30798/what-is-database-software) tools to capture, store, manage and analyse. There is no explicit [definition](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/70598/false-furore-over-the-leadership-definition-statement-of-army-chief-bipin-rawat) of how big a dataset should be in order to be considered Big Data. New [technology](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/13005/the-functional-aspects-of-laser-technology) has to be in place to manage this Big Data phenomenon. IDC defines Big Data [technologies](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/11429/tools-and-technologies-to-learn-in-2017) as a new [generation](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/300788/why-is-heart-attack-increasing-in-the-younger-generation) of technologies and architectures designed to extract value economically from very large volumes of a wide variety of data by enabling high velocity capture, discovery and analysis. \
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According to O’Reilly, “Big data is data that exceeds the [processing](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/254/background-processing-in-android) capacity of conventional [database systems](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/158364/what-is-mongodb-and-how-does-it-differ-from-other-database-systems). The data is too big, moves too fast, or does not fit the structures of [existing database](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159905/how-can-i-generate-migrations-for-an-existing-database-in-dot-net-6) architectures. To gain value from these data, there must be an [alternative](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/2324/what-is-the-alternative-to-the-mvc) way to process it.”5

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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/691/what-is-big-data

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