Best Distributed Databases for Apache Spark

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.

SingleStore, previously known as MemSQL, is a highly scalable and distributed SQL database that can operate in any environment. It is designed to provide exceptional performance for both transactional and analytical tasks while utilizing well-known relational models. This database supports continuous data ingestion, enabling operational analytics critical for frontline business activities. With the capacity to handle millions of events each second, SingleStore ensures ACID transactions and allows for the simultaneous analysis of vast amounts of data across various formats, including relational SQL, JSON, geospatial, and full-text search. It excels in data ingestion performance at scale and incorporates built-in batch loading alongside real-time data pipelines. Leveraging ANSI SQL, SingleStore offers rapid query responses for both current and historical data, facilitating ad hoc analysis through business intelligence tools. Additionally, it empowers users to execute machine learning algorithms for immediate scoring and conduct geoanalytic queries in real-time, thereby enhancing decision-making processes. Furthermore, its versatility makes it a strong choice for organizations looking to derive insights from diverse data types efficiently.

Utilize Apache HBase™ when you require immediate and random read/write capabilities for your extensive data sets. This initiative aims to manage exceptionally large tables that can contain billions of rows across millions of columns on clusters built from standard hardware. It features automatic failover capabilities between RegionServers to ensure reliability. Additionally, it provides an intuitive Java API for client interaction, along with a Thrift gateway and a RESTful Web service that accommodates various data encoding formats, including XML, Protobuf, and binary. Furthermore, it supports the export of metrics through the Hadoop metrics system, enabling data to be sent to files or Ganglia, as well as via JMX for enhanced monitoring and management. With these features, HBase stands out as a robust solution for handling big data challenges effectively.

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.

JanusGraph stands out as a highly scalable graph database designed for efficiently storing and querying extensive graphs that can comprise hundreds of billions of vertices and edges, all managed across a cluster of multiple machines. This project, which operates under The Linux Foundation, boasts contributions from notable organizations such as Expero, Google, GRAKN.AI, Hortonworks, IBM, and Amazon. It offers both elastic and linear scalability to accommodate an expanding data set and user community. Key features include robust data distribution and replication methods to enhance performance and ensure fault tolerance. Additionally, JanusGraph supports multi-datacenter high availability and provides hot backups for data security. All these capabilities are available without any associated costs, eliminating the necessity for purchasing commercial licenses, as it is entirely open source and governed by the Apache 2 license. Furthermore, JanusGraph functions as a transactional database capable of handling thousands of simultaneous users performing complex graph traversals in real time. It ensures support for both ACID properties and eventual consistency, catering to various operational needs. Beyond online transactional processing (OLTP), JanusGraph also facilitates global graph analytics (OLAP) through its integration with Apache Spark, making it a versatile tool for data analysis and visualization. This combination of features makes JanusGraph a powerful choice for organizations looking to leverage graph data effectively.

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.