A massive volume of both structured and unstructured data is referred to as “Big Data”. You can compare it to a gigantic tsunami. But instead of water you have a tidal wave of data.
Big data is characterized by volume, velocity, and variety. The amount is so large that it is cannot be processed using conventional database techniques. The speed with which data comes in and is gathered is very fast and can exceed available computer processing capacity. Data also comes in different formats — i.e., text files, audio and video files, email, spreadsheets, etc.
Other interesting terms…
