There is a data explosion occurring in the world. As more and more data is being collected, the challenge is how to use it effectively and securely. Data that is being created is not just transaction oriented and is not structured. Such data cannot be managed effectively with some data management systems since traditional systems cannot process such data. . Big data requires adequate storage and distributed processing. Big Data also injects heterogeneous data types that need proper integration into the existing infrastructure. Social networks have been generating tremendous amounts of such data. Big Data is truly a nightmare and it is important to effectively manage such data. Big Data tools can manage and analyze structured and unstructured data and can obtain information from large data sets.