There are three defining properties that can help break down Big Data. And these three characteristics that define big data are volume, variety, and velocity. Data volume- The volume of data is simply the size of the data and is typically characterized by the amount of information a dataset contains (megabytes, gigabytes, etc.). Data velocity- It refers to the rate at which data is generated and transferred. Data variety- Big Data variety refers to all structured and unstructured data that may be generated by people or machines.