Open Format Databases
An open format database stores your data in a public, non-proprietary file format such as Apache Parquet, rather than an internal format only that database can read. This means your data stays portable and you are not locked to one vendor.
Why the storage format matters
Most databases store data in their own internal format. That format is tuned for the engine, but it has a side effect: your data is only readable by that engine. To get it out, you export, which is slow and sometimes expensive when egress fees apply.
An open format database stores data in a format that many tools understand. If your data lives as Parquet on object storage, you can query it with that database today and a different tool tomorrow, with no migration. The engine and the data are decoupled.
This is the core idea behind the lakehouse, and it is increasingly how teams avoid being trapped by a single vendor's pricing and roadmap.
How Arc handles Open Format Databases
Arc is an open format database. Everything it stores is Parquet on storage you own. If Arc disappeared tomorrow, you would still have every byte in a format any tool can read. There is no proprietary store to be locked into and nothing to export.
Arc is a high-performance columnar database. Open Parquet on storage you own, single Go binary, production-ready in 30 seconds.