What is an open data lakehouse?

An open data lakehouse is an architectural framework that merges the cost-effective storage benefits of data lakes with the robust analytics capabilities of data warehouses, utilizing open-source table formats, file formats, and query engines on cloud platforms like AWS and Azure. This architecture addresses the need for scalable analytics that support diverse data formats and sources, essential for AI systems. Key components include commodity cloud storage, open file and table formats, and open compute engines, which together optimize performance and cost. Apache Iceberg and Trino are pivotal in this setup, with Iceberg enhancing data management and governance, while Trino facilitates high-performance analytics and centralized data access through its SQL-compatible, massively parallel query engine. The open data lakehouse supports both business intelligence and data science applications, offering benefits like ACID transactions, separation of storage and compute, and schema evolution. Starburst Galaxy further refines this architecture by integrating Trino to enhance query performance and governance, making data more accessible and secure.