What are Open Table Formats?

Open table formats are revolutionizing modern data architecture by providing a structured, intelligent layer to raw data lakes, enabling advanced features like transactions, time travel, and fine-grained updates. These formats, including Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, and Apache Hudi, offer robust metadata layers and full ACID compliance, replacing older systems like Apache Hive that lacked transactional support and scalability. This transformation is crucial for the development of data lakehouses, which combine the flexibility of data lakes with the data management capabilities of warehouses. Open table formats enhance data querying, governance, and scalability, making them indispensable for enterprise analytics and AI-ready infrastructure. They enable full CRUD operations, improved scalability, and transactional support, allowing data lakes to function more like traditional databases while retaining their cost benefits. The structured metadata in these formats provides an accurate, up-to-date record of changes, facilitating efficient data management and analytics. As the industry shifts towards open formats, platforms like Starburst leverage these innovations to offer improved performance and reduced vendor lock-in, exemplified by their "Icehouse" architecture combining Trino and Iceberg for optimal data solutions.