Item: Hortonworks Data Platform
Rating: 9
Author: Wonoh Kim

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Hortonworks Data Platform to analyze time-stamped sensor data with log data.

Pros and Cons

First, Hortonworks Data Platform is 100% open source and has no proprietary software. Thus, we don't need to worry about an exit plan.
Next, Hortonworks Data Platform is simple and well documented so that it is easy to implement clusters by following the documents.
Then, Hortonworks Data Platform updates new technologies for everyone as open source frequently.
And finally, it's easy to update new versions of Hortonworks Data Platform.

Hortonworks Data Platform only provides a Hadoop platform. You must build your application by yourself.
It is difficult to stream process data. Again, you must configure the stream data process by yourself.

Return on Investment

Ability to analyze data in a different format efficiently is a positive impact of using Hadoop.

Alternatives Considered

Apache, Cloudera, MapR, and IBM.

Hortonworks Data Platform is more efficient to use than Apache since you don't need to configure everything by yourself. Again, Cloudera, MapR, and IBM is proprietary software.

The key question is does it have an exit plan. Once you use proprietary software, it's very difficult to change platforms and you must pay an annual fee. Hortonworks Data Platform is 100% open source and you can change the platform without worrying about a contract.