Microsoft and Hortonworks Launch HDInsight

Microsoft And Horton works Launch HD Insight - Dynamic QuestEveryone has their sights on big data and how it is drastically changing the business landscape. Many of today’s largest businesses have begun integrating big data analytics to their strategic planning process, and more organizations are expected to follow in their footsteps. To capitalize on the huge demand, service providers are now racing to establish themselves as the global leader in big data processing and analytics. As expected, Microsoft has no intention of falling behind.

Microsoft Partners with Linux

In early September, Microsoft announced it had been working with Hortonworks and Canonical to develop the Azure HDInsight for users of the Ubuntu Operating System. Azure HDInsight is designed to make Microsoft’s cloud-based, big data services simpler and more accessible. The project will also make managed services available to Ubuntu users, not just Windows users. HDInsight is now open to the general public, and even comes with a one-week free trial.

What is Azure HDInsight?

Azure HDInsight (along with ADL Store and ADL Analytics) is part of the expanded Microsoft Azure Data Lake. In short, it aims to become “…a fully managed big data and advanced analytics suite that enables [transformation of] data into intelligent action.” HDInsight allows access to all Hadoop/Apache technology stacks, complete with full monitoring and support from Microsoft in:

  • creating and processing Hadoop clusters
  • authoring, advanced debugging, and tuning Hive queries
  • writing, testing, and maintaining Storm topologies
  • coding, experimenting, and enhancing Spark processes

Major Benefits of HDInsight

  1. Hadoop Made Easy – Enjoy the Hadoop ecosystem without the hassles. HDInsight is capable to processing any number of nodes in mere minutes, even if the cluster is made up of petabytes of data. The user-friendly interface also makes it easy to optimize the cluster size for insight, time, or cost. If you are currently using Azure PowerShell or Azure Command-Line Interface in your analysis workflows, inserting Hadoop clusters will be seamless.
  2. Unparalleled Flexibility – HDInsight is 100{61194e7afa0946242429d3457858805d5d8e9f1e3c2fa6ff4cb841084e122ca3} based on Hadoop making it compatible with most Apache-based ecosystems, and all Azure platforms. The Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) also allows you to run big data applications in both Windows and Ubuntu operating systems. No other managed services provider (MSP) offers such flexibility, allowing you to continue using existing analysis workflows without having to convert them.
  3. Works with Microsoft Excel – Perform big data analysis utilizing all of the powerful tools offered by Microsoft Excel, which is fully compatible with HDInsight. Mix and match or compare and contrast HDInsight data with data from your Excel spreadsheets. Get even more information from the combined data using Excel tools such as Power Query, PowerPivot, Power View, and Power Map.
  4. Open Development of Big Data Apps – HDInsight also makes for a interesting tool for developers, as it allows software engineers to code their applications using almost any kind of programming language (such as Java and .NET).

What We Think of HD Insight

Dynamic Quest welcomes the flexibility offered by Azure HDInsight. The ability to run analytics using almost all Hadoop/Apache technology stacks, and create apps using all major programming languages, makes big data computing highly accessible to the public. Microsoft has taken a major step in making big data processing and analysis available to small and medium-sized businesses.

Curious to learn more? Contact your Atlanta managed IT service provider today!

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