Best Columnar Databases for Hadoop

StarTree Cloud is a fully-managed real-time analytics platform designed for OLAP at massive speed and scale for user-facing applications. Powered by Apache Pinot, StarTree Cloud provides enterprise-grade reliability and advanced capabilities such as tiered storage, scalable upserts, plus additional indexes and connectors. It integrates seamlessly with transactional databases and event streaming platforms, ingesting data at millions of events per second and indexing it for lightning-fast query responses. StarTree Cloud is available on your favorite public cloud or for private SaaS deployment. StarTree Cloud includes StarTree Data Manager, which allows you to ingest data from both real-time sources such as Amazon Kinesis, Apache Kafka, Apache Pulsar, or Redpanda, as well as batch data sources such as data warehouses like Snowflake, Delta Lake or Google BigQuery, or object stores like Amazon S3, Apache Flink, Apache Hadoop, or Apache Spark. StarTree ThirdEye is an add-on anomaly detection system running on top of StarTree Cloud that observes your business-critical metrics, alerting you and allowing you to perform root-cause analysis — all in real-time.

When seeking a database that ensures both scalability and high availability without sacrificing performance, Apache Cassandra stands out as an ideal option. Its linear scalability paired with proven fault tolerance on standard hardware or cloud services positions it as an excellent choice for handling mission-critical data effectively. Additionally, Cassandra's superior capability to replicate data across several datacenters not only enhances user experience by reducing latency but also offers reassurance in the event of regional failures. This combination of features makes it a robust solution for organizations that prioritize data resilience and efficiency.

OpenText Analytics Database is a cutting-edge analytics platform designed to accelerate decision-making and operational efficiency through fast, real-time data processing and advanced machine learning. Organizations benefit from its flexible deployment options, including on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments, enabling them to tailor analytics infrastructure to their specific needs and lower overall costs. The platform’s massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture delivers lightning-fast query performance across large, complex datasets. It supports columnar storage and data lakehouse compatibility, allowing seamless analysis of data stored in various formats such as Parquet, ORC, and AVRO. Users can interact with data using familiar languages like SQL, R, Python, Java, and C/C++, making it accessible for both technical and business users. In-database machine learning capabilities allow for building and deploying predictive models without moving data, providing real-time insights. Additional analytics functions include time series, geospatial, and event-pattern matching, enabling deep and diverse data exploration. OpenText Analytics Database is ideal for organizations looking to harness AI and analytics to drive smarter business decisions.

Greenplum Database® stands out as a sophisticated, comprehensive, and open-source data warehouse solution. It excels in providing swift and robust analytics on data volumes that reach petabyte scales. Designed specifically for big data analytics, Greenplum Database is driven by a highly advanced cost-based query optimizer that ensures exceptional performance for analytical queries on extensive data sets. This project operates under the Apache 2 license, and we extend our gratitude to all current contributors while inviting new ones to join our efforts. In the Greenplum Database community, every contribution is valued, regardless of its size, and we actively encourage diverse forms of involvement. This platform serves as an open-source, massively parallel data environment tailored for analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence applications. Users can swiftly develop and implement models aimed at tackling complex challenges in fields such as cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, risk management, and fraud detection, among others. Dive into the experience of a fully integrated, feature-rich open-source analytics platform that empowers innovation.

Google Cloud Bigtable provides a fully managed, scalable NoSQL data service that can handle large operational and analytical workloads. Cloud Bigtable is fast and performant. It's the storage engine that grows with your data, from your first gigabyte up to a petabyte-scale for low latency applications and high-throughput data analysis. Seamless scaling and replicating: You can start with one cluster node and scale up to hundreds of nodes to support peak demand. Replication adds high availability and workload isolation to live-serving apps. Integrated and simple: Fully managed service that easily integrates with big data tools such as Dataflow, Hadoop, and Dataproc. Development teams will find it easy to get started with the support for the open-source HBase API standard.

A Kudu cluster comprises tables that resemble those found in traditional relational (SQL) databases. These tables can range from a straightforward binary key and value structure to intricate designs featuring hundreds of strongly-typed attributes. Similar to SQL tables, each Kudu table is defined by a primary key, which consists of one or more columns; this could be a single unique user identifier or a composite key such as a (host, metric, timestamp) combination tailored for time-series data from machines. The primary key allows for quick reading, updating, or deletion of rows. The straightforward data model of Kudu facilitates the migration of legacy applications as well as the development of new ones, eliminating concerns about encoding data into binary formats or navigating through cumbersome JSON databases. Additionally, tables in Kudu are self-describing, enabling the use of standard analysis tools like SQL engines or Spark. With user-friendly APIs, Kudu ensures that developers can easily integrate and manipulate their data. This approach not only streamlines data management but also enhances overall efficiency in data processing tasks.

Parquet was developed to provide the benefits of efficient, compressed columnar data representation to all projects within the Hadoop ecosystem. Designed with a focus on accommodating complex nested data structures, Parquet employs the record shredding and assembly technique outlined in the Dremel paper, which we consider to be a more effective strategy than merely flattening nested namespaces. This format supports highly efficient compression and encoding methods, and various projects have shown the significant performance improvements that arise from utilizing appropriate compression and encoding strategies for their datasets. Furthermore, Parquet enables the specification of compression schemes at the column level, ensuring its adaptability for future developments in encoding technologies. It is crafted to be accessible for any user, as the Hadoop ecosystem comprises a diverse range of data processing frameworks, and we aim to remain neutral in our support for these different initiatives. Ultimately, our goal is to empower users with a flexible and robust tool that enhances their data management capabilities across various applications.

Hypertable provides a high-performance, scalable database solution that enhances the efficiency of your big data applications while minimizing hardware usage. This platform offers exceptional efficiency and outperforms its competitors, leading to significant cost reductions for users. Its robust and proven architecture supports numerous services at Google. Users can enjoy the advantages of open-source technology backed by a vibrant and active community. With a C++ implementation, Hypertable ensures optimal performance. Additionally, it offers around-the-clock support for critical big data operations. Clients benefit from direct access to the expertise of the core developers behind Hypertable. Specifically engineered to address scalability challenges that traditional relational database management systems struggle with, Hypertable leverages a design model pioneered by Google to effectively tackle scaling issues, making it superior to other NoSQL alternatives available today. Its innovative approach not only resolves current scalability needs but also anticipates future demands in data management.

Pinot is built to efficiently handle OLAP queries on static data with minimal latency. It incorporates various pluggable indexing methods, including Sorted Index, Bitmap Index, and Inverted Index. While it currently lacks support for joins, this limitation can be mitigated by utilizing Trino or PrestoDB for querying purposes. The system offers an SQL-like language that enables selection, aggregation, filtering, grouping, ordering, and distinct queries on datasets. It comprises both offline and real-time tables, with real-time tables being utilized to address segments lacking offline data. Additionally, users can tailor the anomaly detection process and notification mechanisms to accurately identify anomalies. This flexibility ensures that users can maintain data integrity and respond proactively to potential issues.