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Apache Hadoop vs IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Hadoop
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (7th)
IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (15th)
 

Featured Reviews

NR
Financial Advisor at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Reliable performance maintained but requires ongoing management and support
Hadoop was used for years, but there were problems since the people who originally set it up left the firm. The group that owned it later didn't have the technical resources to properly maintain it. Although there was nothing wrong with Hadoop itself, issues arose without proper management and upgrades.
FM
Database Engineer at Meezan Bank
Enhancing analytics with seamless data dumping and reliable support
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics The organization has decided to purchase a full stack solution from IBM due to positive responses, which helped them upgrade from the previous version. The data dumping into the raw zone and the feature of BigQuery is quite attractive. There…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the database."
"As compared to Hive on MapReduce, Impala on MPP returns results of SQL queries in a fairly short amount of time, and is relatively fast when reading data into other platforms like R."
"Hadoop can store any kind of data—structured, unstructured, and semi-structured—and presents it using the relational model through Hive."
"One valuable feature is that we can download data."
"The ability to add multiple nodes without any restriction is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"The Distributed File System, which is the base of Hadoop, has been the most valuable feature with its ability to store video, pictures, JSON, XML, and plain text all in the same file system."
"As compared to Hive on MapReduce, Impala on MPP returns results of SQL queries in a fairly short amount of time, and is relatively fast when reading data into other platforms like R (for further data analysis) or QlikView (for data visualisation)."
"Apache Hadoop can manage large amounts and volumes of data with relative ease, which is a feature that is beneficial."
"One of the most amazing features of dashDB is how it uses compression to get results in lighting speed."
"The way that it scales will help a lot of customers that are stuck with Netezza boxes that can't grow any larger.​"
"It will be MPP, so performance should improve."
"The performance is okay as long as the volume of queries is not too high."
"Since my company is an IBM partner, it has enabled us to offer cloud data warehouse solutions on a 100% IBM stack."
"DashDB is a good product to work with and the extra cost you spend on performance, technical support and tools to work with is worth it."
"I like that the dashDB solution is built on DB2 technology, which means that you can use all the features of a DB2 database while outsourcing all the hardware and software maintenance."
"It is stable when there is support from IBM."
 

Cons

"It would be good to have more advanced analytics tools."
"From the Apache perspective or the open-source community, they need to add more capabilities to make life easier from a configuration and deployment perspective."
"Based on our needs, we would like to see a tool for data visualization and enhanced Ambari for management, plus a pre-built IoT hub/model. These would reduce our efforts and the time needed to prove to a customer that this will help them."
"In general, stability can be a challenge."
"Once we had an issue with stability, due to a complete shutdown of a cluster."
"Since it is an open-source product, there won't be much support."
"There is a lack of virtualization and presentation layers, so you can't take it and implement it like a radio solution."
"I rate it an eight out of 10. It's huge, complex, slow."
"I would rate the level of dashDB support 3.5/5. While they are very knowledgeable in many areas, you can still struggle to get the correct resolution."
"Containers get corrupted very easily. Restoring them using GPFS can result in a lot of issues."
"With dashDB, scalability and uptime need more improvement."
"Db2 is not a solution that I recommend. We have a lot of experience and we are not satisfied with the product or the support that we received."
"Ultimately, the product itself has challenges and we are not currently satisfied with the support, either."
"Tech support for dashDB is awful. We usually have tickets open for three to four weeks."
"I would like to see improvements in backup and authentication. It needs the ability to increase the number of retained backups to more than 2 days."
"The support channels need to improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Do take into consider that data storage and compute capacity scale differently and hence purchasing a "boxed" / 'all-in-one" solution (software and hardware) might not be the best idea."
"It's reasonable, but there's room for improvement in cost-effectiveness."
"​There are no licensing costs involved, hence money is saved on the software infrastructure​."
"The price of Apache Hadoop could be less expensive."
"The product is open-source, but some associated licensing fees depend on the subscription level."
"If my company can use the cloud version of Apache Hadoop, particularly the cloud storage feature, it would be easier and would cost less because an on-premises deployment has a higher cost during storage, for example, though I don't know exactly how much Apache Hadoop costs."
"This is a low cost and powerful solution."
"For any big enterprise the costs can be handled, and it is suitable for big enterprises because the scale of data is large. For medium and small enterprises, the tool is on the high-price side."
"If your going to go with warehouse DB/dashDB, use the cloud or Sailfish version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
5%
University
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Hadoop?
It's primarily open source. You can handle huge data volumes and create your own views, workflows, and tables. I can also use it for real-time data streaming.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Hadoop?
The product is open-source, but some associated licensing fees depend on the subscription level. While it might be free for students, organizations typically need to pay for their subscriptions. Th...
What needs improvement with Apache Hadoop?
The problem with Apache Hadoop arose when the guys that originally set it up left the firm, and the group that later owned it didn't have enough technical resources to properly maintain it. This wa...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Organizations of all sizes, especially those who are in need of powerful and elastic cloud data warehouse solutions that can help administrators maximize the efficiency of their data-based operatio...
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
There are some limitations in adding data files to table spaces, and improvements are needed for regional support.
What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics.
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM dashDB
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon, Adobe, eBay, Facebook, Google, Hulu, IBM, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Spotify, AOL, Twitter, University of Maryland, Yahoo!, Cornell University Web Lab
Copenhagen Business School, BPM Northwest, GameStop
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Hadoop vs. IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.