Querying massive datasets can be time consuming and expensive without the right hardware and infrastructure. Google BigQuery solves this problem by enabling super-fast, SQL-like queries against append-only tables, using the processing power of Google's infrastructure.
More info can be found in the blog by my colleague Graham Polley http://blog.shinetech.com/2014/01/18/reeling-in-big-data-using-googles-bigquery/
Googles BigQuery page: https://developers.google.com/bigquery
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Java-JVM-Users-Group/events/149444892
