Where Data Lives: Warehouses, Lakes, and Lakehouses
"Just put it in a database" stops working the moment you're dealing with analytics at scale — because the database that runs your application is optimized for exactly the wrong thing. Analytical data needs different storage: systems built to scan and aggregate huge volumes, not to serve fast individual transactions. The landscape of analytical storage — data warehouses, data lakes, and the newer lakehouses — is where data engineering decisions about where data lives get made, and understanding the differences (starting with OLTP vs OLAP) is essential.
'Just put it in a database' stops working the moment you're doing analytics at scale — the database that runs your app is optimized for exactly the wrong thing. Analytical data needs different storage: warehouses, lakes, and lakehouses. Understanding the differences (starting with OLTP vs OLAP) is essential.