Hadoop is a software system created by Apache that enables a company’s data science team to analyze large sets of data stored on distributed servers. Companies mainly use this software framework to extract unstructured data to enhance areas like business performance and customer relationship management. This unstructured data is referred to as big data in the industry. Any company involved in physical and electronic transactions has access to big data, but it is only recently that business leaders have begun to see its potential for forecasting trends that can boost competitive advantage. Larger businesses had an edge because they could invest in specialized hardware and hire the necessary staff to prepare various data for analysis. User-friendly features like Excel reporting in Hadoop enable small businesses to tap into big data analytics, allowing even non-technical users to work with large data sets from affordable, off-the-shelf servers for their analysis projects. Here are some additional reasons why Hadoop is a top choice for corporate data science teams.
Use Hadoop With Leading Storage Technology
Hadoop has created equal opportunities for companies looking to use big data to improve their business processes. For instance, many healthcare companies gathering genetic data for advanced personalized medicine struggled with storage capacity for effective big data analysis. Now, businesses of all sizes are using cloud storage to increase their storage options, with Google Cloud Storage being a popular choice. The benefits of Hadoop are widely recognized in the IT industry, prompting Google to develop a custom connector that links Google Cloud Storage with Hadoop. Moreover, storage area network and virtualization storage providers are planning to integrate their products and services with Apache’s Hadoop.
Tighten Up Big Data Security Using Third Party Tools and Add-Ons
Data security remains a hot button issue for many companies, non profit organizations and government agencies. It seems that no organization is immune to attacks by hackers who want to steal information or corrupt the integrity of stored data. As a result, many businesses are forced to pay fines or legal reparations for not adequately protecting the information entrusted to them, and other businesses experience productivity losses. The storage and processing of big data by numerous companies just opens up a new path for cyber criminals because they have greater amounts of unsecured data to exploit. Hadoop was not originally built with security mechanisms in place, but third party tools like IBM InfoSphere Optim Data Masking, Cloudera Sentry and DataStax Enterprise have incorporated authentication and data privacy features into their versions of Hadoop. Many of these tools provide for the authentication of Hadoop processes, services and users; they also allow for the encryption of the Hadoop file system and data access blocking. Maintenance and customer support are additional benefits of purchasing these distributed, third party versions of Hadoop versus using the free, original Apache product.
Improve Big Data Processing Through Hadoop Integration With Popular IT System Brands
A great advantage of using Hadoop over other business intelligence software is the capability that it provides to developers and analysts to quickly extract and process large groupings of data. The efficiency of processing is dependent on many factors including the location of the data and the server platform used. Many businesses trust Microsoft’s brand and have outfitted their organization with the company’s servers, operating system and application software. Although Microsoft’s products have been known not to be compatible with competing software systems, the computing giant has taken great strides to update their flagship MS SQL Server product so that it and its Parallel Data Warehouse utility connects with Hadoop. Microsoft Office applications like Excel have also been updated to integrate with the Apache product; this functionality allows Hadoop users to import data analysis output into a spreadsheet format. The distributed version of Hadoop that is used by IBM’s InfoSphere BigInsights system also allows Hadoop users to view, analyze, graph and update data from multiple sources using a web based spreadsheet; IBM’s plan was to make their version of Hadoop the preferred one for business users. The fact that Hadoop can be implemented on these many platforms, and the many resources available to those learning it for the first time, make it the ideal product to use.
Modify Hadoop To Extend Functionality
Although the development team for the original Apache Hadoop software positively responds to the user community with value added updates, many businesses want to customize the open source software to quickly meet their organization’s’ unique needs. Hadoop is Java based, but developers do not have to be Java programming experts to make modifications to the software framework. Database developers can use SQL similar scripting languages like Hive and Pig that are exclusively associated with Hadoop to add structure to data sets and import value added customizations into Hadoop.