What is Apache Hadoop?
Apache Hadoop is an open source software framework for distributed storage and distributed processing of very large data sets on computer clusters. Hadoop was created by the Apache Software Foundation and is written in Java.
Some key capabilities and features of Hadoop include:
- Massive scale - Hadoop enables distributed processing of massive amounts of data across clusters made up of commodity hardware.
- Fault tolerance - Data and application processing is redundantly distributed across the cluster so that failures of individual computers does not result in loss of data or interrupt application processing.
- Flexibility - New nodes can be added as needed and Hadoop will automatically distribute data and processing across the new nodes.
- Low cost - Hadoop runs on commodity hardware reducing capital expenditure and operational costs compared to traditional data warehousing solutions.
- Variety of data sources - Hadoop allows ingestion of structured and unstructured data from a wide variety of sources.
Some common uses cases of Hadoop include log file analysis, social media analytics, financial analytics, media analytics, risk modeling, recommendation systems, fraud detection, and more.
Overall, Apache Hadoop enables cost-effective and scalable data processing for big data applications across a cluster of computers.