Bigtable is a distributed storage system developed by Google to manage large amounts of structured data across many servers. It is designed to scale horizontally, meaning it can handle increasing data loads by adding more machines. This makes it suitable for applications that require high performance and reliability. Bigtable organizes data into tables, rows, and columns, similar to a traditional database, but it can store vast amounts of data efficiently. It is used in various Google services, such as Google Search and Google Maps, to support their data-intensive operations and provide quick access to information.