News

Hadoop Cloud Service Lets Companies Test Big Data Waters

• By David Ramel
• 10/09/2014

Teradata Corp. announced an upcoming Teradata Cloud for Hadoop service that it says will enable organizations to explore Hadoop use cases and discern business value before launching complicated, wholesale Big Data projects themselves. The company also announced a partnership with enterprise Hadoop vendor Cloudera Inc.

Joining a bevy of recent products desgined to simplify access to Hadoop and Big Data analytics, the service is meant to address the challenge enterprises face when implementing their own projects.

The cloud service is expected to join the stable of Teradata cloud solutions available through U.S.-based datacenters later this year.

"At a time when companies are struggling to understand and harness the value of Hadoop, Teradata is one of the few companies that has the expertise and experience to deploy truly integrated environments for big data analytics," the company quoted Ventana Research analyst Tony Cosentino as saying. "The introduction of Teradata Cloud for Hadoop represents the latest important innovation in Teradata's valuable portfolio -- and should be considered as a smart way to explore the power of Hadoop in the cloud for quick time to value."

The service comprises several components, including: engineered hardware running Hadoop, called Cloud Compute Units; a system monitoring and administration console; and platform and network monitoring.

Also available are optional tools for moving data between Hadoop and the company's proprietary database and its Aster Discovery Platform. Optional services are offered to provide Hadoop development help, managed services and training.

"Teradata Cloud makes it easier to get started and use Hadoop for exploratory analytics," said company exec Scott Gnau. "Our cloud offer is ready when you need it and is available with multiple pricing options. We take care of Hadoop monitoring and maintenance so users don't have to muddle through complex technology installation issues, and can focus on actually using Hadoop for business benefit."

The partnership with Cloudera will optimize integration between the Teradata data warehouse and the enterprise data hub from Cloudera. Teradata said that will ease access to various data sources through the Teradata Unified Data Architecture (UDA), which integrates three different types of engine to manage various kinds of data. Specifically, Teradata Hadoop connectors are certified for use with the Cloudera Enterprise distribution.

The partnership will also allow Teradata to resell Cloudera Enterprise products along with training, support and consulting services. The companies will also combine sales and marketing efforts.

"The hallmark of the UDA is processing any analytic on any data, and this capability requires multiple technologies to be integrated," said Gnau. "Adding Cloudera to the UDA offers our customers additional choices. The UDA combines the enterprise data hub and the integrated data warehouse into one large analytic ecosystem. Our respective product roadmaps are now better aligned to make this a reality."