This document provides an overview of big data. It defines big data as large volumes of data that come in many varieties and are created quickly. It notes that while 5 billion gigabytes of data were created from the beginning of recorded time until 2003, that same amount was being created every two days by 2011 and every 10 minutes by 2013 due to the growth of data from sources like the internet and smartphones. The document also outlines some of the common tools used to analyze big data, potential benefits and challenges, as well as which industries are most impacted.