The Icehouse Manifesto: Building an Open Lakehouse

The concept of the "Icehouse" represents a new open lakehouse architecture that combines Trino, an open-source SQL query engine, and Iceberg, an open table format, to create a flexible and efficient data platform. This approach addresses the limitations of traditional data warehouses and proprietary data formats by offering an open architecture that facilitates optionality and interoperability. Trino's origins trace back to handling massive-scale data at Facebook, while Iceberg provides a metadata layer that enhances data management capabilities in data lakes, supporting ACID properties for reliable data operations. Together, they form the foundation of the Icehouse, enabling a comprehensive data warehouse experience on a data lake with SQL as the primary language for data manipulation. The Icehouse architecture supports a wide range of use cases, including business intelligence, data transformations, and artificial intelligence, while offering economic advantages, such as reduced compute costs, as demonstrated by companies like Yello. The Icehouse is positioned as a pivotal component of the emerging data platform landscape, integrating seamlessly with tools like dbt and Starburst Galaxy for a fully managed open lakehouse solution.