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Apache Spark vs. Azure Blob Storage, with Azure Data Lake Storage vs. Azure HDInsight

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Apache Spark

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AApache Spark is an open-source, distributed cluster-computing framework designed for large-scale data processing, batch transformations, real-time Streaming Analytics, and machine learning workloads. The platform executes distributed memory-centric computations across heterogeneous storage layers using unified APIs in Python, Scala, Java, SQL, and R.N/A

    Azure Blob Storage

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AAzure Blob Storage is Microsoft Azure’s object storage service for storing and accessing large volumes of unstructured data. Organizations use it for application content, backups and archives, media, logs, data exports, machine learning datasets, high-performance computing workloads, and data-lake storage. NOTE: Azure Data Lake Storage, also known as Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, is not a separate service or account type. It is a set of big-data analytics capabilities within Azure Blob Storage…

    $0.01

    per GB/per month

    Azure HDInsight

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AHDInsight is an implementation of the Apache Hadoop technology stack on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform: It is based on the Hortonworks Hadoop distribution. Microsoft Azure HDInsight includes implementations of Apache Spark, HBase, Storm, Pig, Hive, Sqoop, Oozie, Ambari, etc. It also integrates with with business intelligence (BI) tools such as Power BI, Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Reporting Services.N/A
    Pricing
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Block Blobs
    $0.0081
    per GB/per month
    Azure Data Lake Storage
    $0.0081
    per GB/per month
    Files
    $0.058
    per GB/per month
    Managed Discs
    $1.54
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Considered Multiple Products
    Apache
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    Chose Azure HDInsight
    Many times you just need spark performing fast and cheap. Azure HDInsight Includes lots of features and not required software. Also its libraries and runtime versions are pritty old. But, what is great Is you don't need to have an expert in your team and things -when work- …
    Incentivized
    Chose Azure HDInsight
    Azure HD Insight is the one only used and it works well and serves its purpose. Azure Blob Storage could be an alternative, but if you really want to work on a large-scale workload, then HD analytics is best with Azure Data Lakes. PowerBI could be useful for small scale data …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    24 Answers
    80%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    23 Answers
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    25 Answers
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    22 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Google Cloud Storage
    Score9.2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Everpure FlashBlade
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Cloudera Manager (no longer available standalone)
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Google Cloud Storage
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Hadoop
    Score7.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (24 ratings)
    9.1
    (25 ratings)
    4.0
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.9
    (4 ratings)
    8.9
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Apache SparkAzure Blob StorageAzure HDInsight
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apache
    Well suited: To most of the local run of datasets and non-prod systems - scalability is not a problem at all. Including data from multiple types of data sources is an added advantage. MLlib is a decently nice built-in library that can be used for most of the ML tasks. Less appropriate: We had to work on a RecSys where the music dataset that we used was around 300+Gb in size. We faced memory-based issues. Few times we also got memory errors. Also the MLlib library does not have support for advanced analytics and deep-learning frameworks support. Understanding the internals of the working of Apache Spark for beginners is highly not possible.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    In Azure, it is the storage to use, and in my view, the Blob Storage offers more, or finer-grained configuration options, than S3. So my recommendation would be to check in detail what is offered. As the Blob Storage is more or less a Microsoft exclusive product, the "interoperability" is more limited than, for example, with S3. The S3 is more widely adopted, and if you cannot exclude a migration scenario from one cloud provider to another, additional effort is needed.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Well suited: A tiny-mid sized company with no immediate plans of growing the volume of their data processing, that can afford long response times from support. Also it helps if you are not prone to put your hands on Linux and Spark configuration. In fact, it can make things go really faster if you also work with the bundle-in Jupyter. And, if you need to perform some diagnostics and / or administrative tasks, that's full of tools to find an understand the Root Cause. Ideal for non experts. Less appropriate: Big Data company, intense on demand cluster creation, mission critical, costs reduction, latest versions of libraries required, sophisticate customizations required.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Apache
    • Rich APIs for data transformation making for very each to transform and prepare data in a distributed environment without worrying about memory issues
    • Faster in execution times compare to Hadoop and PIG Latin
    • Easy SQL interface to the same data set for people who are comfortable to explore data in a declarative manner
    • Interoperability between SQL and Scala / Python style of munging data
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • The data lake analytics tool is good and provides loads of computing power to speed up the processing time.
    • It provides unlimited storage for structured, semi-structured or unstructured data.
    • Cloud-based service and we can easily use it for ETL and ELT processes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Data is presented without interfering others (IT or other dept).
    • Data is managed properly and is available for retrievable any time.
    • Legacy use of CD/DVD and Pendrive are not required.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Apache
    • Memory management. Very weak on that.
    • PySpark not as robust as scala with spark.
    • spark master HA is needed. Not as HA as it should be.
    • Locality should not be a necessity, but does help improvement. But would prefer no locality
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • study for the certifications also to have them as a reference for work when you have any questions about applying a configuration to the equipment.
    • The Internet interface is simple and easy to use. Capacity is good and it's good that HP continues to innovate with this technology
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • The only problem I have come across is when loading large volumes of data I sometimes get an error message, I assume this means something is corrupt from within. I would love a way for this to be resolved without having to start over.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Apache
    Capacity of computing data in cluster and fast speed.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Apache
    If the team looking to use Apache Spark is not used to debug and tweak settings for jobs to ensure maximum optimizations, it can be frustrating. However, the documentation and the support of the community on the internet can help resolve most issues. Moreover, it is highly configurable and it integrates with different tools (eg: it can be used by dbt core), which increase the scenarios where it can be used
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Blob storage is fairly simple, with several different options/settings that can be configured. The file explorer has enhanced its usability. Some areas could be improved, such as providing more details or stats on how many times a file has been accessed. It is an obvious choice if you're already using Azure/Entra.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Azure HDInsight is usable on the top of Azure Data Lake and gives us the benefit of analyzing large scale data workload in Hadoop. Usability and support from Microsoft are outstanding.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Apache
    1. It integrates very well with scala or python. 2. It's very easy to understand SQL interoperability. 3. Apache is way faster than the other competitive technologies. 4. The support from the Apache community is very huge for Spark. 5. Execution times are faster as compared to others. 6. There are a large number of forums available for Apache Spark. 7. The code availability for Apache Spark is simpler and easy to gain access to. 8. Many organizations use Apache Spark, so many solutions are available for existing applications.
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    Microsoft
    Microsoft has improved its customer service standpoint over the years. The ability to chat with an issue, get a callback, schedule a call or work with an architecture team(for free) is a huge plus. I can get mentorship and guidance on where to go with my environment without pushy sales tactics. This is very refreshing. Typically support can get me to where I need to be on the first contact, which is also nice.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Inexpert, isolated teams... not good for support an excessively complex platform. Lots of weeks or months for a complex problem troubleshoot. Many time lost stuck on MindTree, before the case was finally escalated with Microsoft!
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Apache
    Spark in comparison to similar technologies ends up being a one stop shop. You can achieve so much with this one framework instead of having to stitch and weave multiple technologies from the Hadoop stack, all while getting incredibility performance, minimal boilerplate, and getting the ability to write your application in the language of your choosing.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Azure Premium Blob offers better latency than competitors. It works best with the Azure ecosystem, and competitors lack it. Azure Blob even stands out in storage durability, providing up to 16 nines. It can have various use cases that can suit all the organisation's needs. The Azure Blob solution can also be deployed on-premises.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    At this time I have not used any other similar products... I am open to it but Azure HDInsight and its components really work well for our organization.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Apache
    • Business leaders are able to take data driven decisions
    • Business users are able access to data in near real time now . Before using spark, they had to wait for at least 24 hours for data to be available
    • Business is able come up with new product ideas
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Data Migration projects from relational sources to Azure Data Lake Storage have given a great ROI, thanks to the less running costs, and High availability
    • Pretty easy to work with in terms of Managing and accessing Data in containerized fashion.
    • Further features like Archival of data which is accessed less frequently can significantly reduce cost
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • ROI is of course there, as no legacy software for data presentation.
    • No manual intervention for data retrieval.
    • Data is available anywhere as requested.
    Incentivized
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