Here is Matt Brender's presentation at Big Data TechCon centered on understanding how distributed systems play a role in Big Data. Full description: Whether you’re an experienced user of Hadoop or a recent convert to Spark, you recognize that data is powerful when stored and analyzed. Analysis, as a workload, can be contrasted with the initial creation and storage of that data. These “active” workloads are what generate the data we covet. Understanding this persistence of data as workload requires an appreciation of distributed systems. We will explore what factors affect your choice in database technology and particularly how to prioritize the choice in core architectural underpinnings present in NoSQL designs. We will also explore what these technologies solve and suggestions for how to align them with your business objectives. You’ll leave this session with an understanding of the basic principles of NoSQL architectural design and a deeper understanding of the considerations when identifying a persistence solution for your active workloads.