Cloud-based data lake vs. on-site data lake

November 22, 2021

Cloud-based Data Lake vs. On-Site Data Lake

Data lakes are essential for organizations to store vast amounts of raw data, allowing seamless data access and analytics. Traditional on-site data lakes have been around for years, and they are now being challenged by the more versatile cloud-based data lakes. Which option is better for an organization in terms of cost, scalability, and security?

In this article, we compare cloud-based data lakes and on-site data lakes to help you make an informed decision based on facts and figures.

Cost

On-site Data Lake Cost

One of the most significant factors in choosing between on-site and cloud-based data lakes is cost. Building an on-site data lake involves significant upfront costs (hardware, software, and personnel), ongoing operating costs, and upgrade costs.

According to a survey by TDWI, the average cost of an on-site data lake is about $2.98 million/year, excluding the cost of upgrading hardware and software.

Cloud-based Data Lake Cost

Cloud-based data lakes eliminate the need for upfront capital expenditures and ongoing maintenance costs. Instead, organizations pay for what they use, based on a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Big players like AWS and Azure offer competitive pricing, and organizations can expect to pay on average $0.03 per GB per month for cloud-based storage.

Scalability

On-site Data Lake Scalability

On-site data lakes have an upper limit of how much data they can hold, and scaling up to meet changing business needs can be challenging. An increase in data volume requires more hardware, which could lead to underutilization of resources and additional costs.

Cloud-based Data Lake Scalability

Cloud-based data lakes provide almost limitless storage capacity, and the infrastructure can scale up or down based on the organization's needs. Cloud providers have available resources to provide infinite scalability. Organizations do not need to worry about over-provisioning or under-provisioning the infrastructure because the service provider manages resource availability.

Security

On-site Data Lake security

Because on-site data lakes are controlled by an organization, they have complete control over security policies, access methods and can set specific security protocols to follow. Hardware security extends to all data within the data lake.

Cloud-based Data Lake security

Cloud-based data lakes offer robust security options, but concerns remain over data privacy, regulatory compliance, and third-party access. Organizations need to ensure that they understand the security protocols of their cloud service provider and adjust them to meet their specific requirements.

Conclusion

Both options provide adequate solutions, and there is no outright winner since organizations have unique requirements that they must match to their data storage and analysis infrastructure. Cost, scalability, and security are essential factors in determining which approach works best for your situation. Organizations must analyze these factors to determine the best option for their business.

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