What is Lambda Architecture?

Lambda Architecture is not technology dependent; rather it is agnostic of technology and defines some practical and well-versed principles to handle and cater to big data. It is a very generic pattern that tries to cater to common requirements raised by most big data applications. The pattern allows us to deal with both historical data and real-time data alongside each other. We used to have two different applications catering to transactional –– OnLine Transaction Processing (OLTP) and analytical –– OnLine Analytical Processing (OLAP) data, but we couldn't mix these together; rather they live separately and don't talk to each other.

These bullet points describe what a Lambda Architecture is:

• Set of patterns and guidelines. This defines a set of patterns and guidelines for the big data kind of applications. More importantly, it allows the queries to consider both historical and newly generated data alike and gives the desired view for the analysts.
• Deals with both historical (batch) and real-time data.
• Technology agnostic and generic in nature. Not at all dependent on technologies, this is a pattern that is generic, and any technology can be used so long as the main layer and its responsibilities are met.
• It clearly separates responsibilities into distinct layers. It does separate responsibilities between layers and complies with the Separation of concerns principle of architecture beautifully.
• It's domain agnostic. It can be applied to different types of business domains as it is a pattern that is generic.