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Apache Spark vs Cloudera DataFlow vs QueryIO comparison

 

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Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

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Featured Reviews

Dunstan Matekenya - PeerSpot reviewer
Open-source solution for data processing with portability
Apache Spark is known for its ease of use. Compared to other available data processing frameworks, it is user-friendly. While many choices now exist, Spark remains easy to use, particularly with Python. You can utilize familiar programming styles similar to Pandas in Python, including object-oriented programming. Another advantage is its portability. I can prototype and perform some initial tasks on my laptop using Spark without needing to be on Databricks or any cloud platform. I can transfer it to Databricks or other platforms, such as AWS. This flexibility allows me to improve processing even on my laptop. For instance, if I'm processing large amounts of data and find my laptop becoming slow, I can quickly switch to Spark. It handles small and large datasets efficiently, making it a versatile tool for various data processing needs.
Mohamed-Saied - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient data integration and workflow scheduling elevate project performance
Cloudera DataFlow is used as an ETL or ELT solution within Cloudera's data pipeline. Our organization heavily relies on it for data ingestion, transformation, and warehousing. It is also used daily for operational tasks, and it integrates well within Cloudera's ecosystem for high performance and…
MR
Stable with good connectivity and good integration capabilities
Data cleansing is not intuitive and user-friendly. When things have errors, you have to hunt them down as opposed to the solution simply showing you intuitively where to find it. I would recommend that they look at that Tableau Prep tool and see how it is pieced together. That's a great data cleansing tool. If Microsoft has something like that, then we wouldn't even have to look at some of the other options. There needs to be some simplification of the user interface. Right now it's too complicated. There isn't a way to put controls on the solution, so anyone can use any part of it, and sometimes novices will go and try to create things, but not know enough about what is official and what is published. It would be ideal if we could segment off certain sections so that not everyone had access to the whole solution. I'd like to see something more of a mapping tool so that you could see how the reports are connected, similar to Tableau Prep and Naim. That would make for a pretty useful diagnostics check. People would be better able to understand the linkage between your datasets. It would be nice if the solution offered some templates. It would make it even more plug and play, and give people a good jumping-off point. After that, they could explore other bells and whistles as they get further into understanding the solution. The solution should work in some virtualization. It would be a good added feature. If this product had those things then I wouldn't need to use other products.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution provides a clear and convenient syntax for our analytical tasks."
"The deployment of the product is easy."
"The memory processing engine is the solution's most valuable aspect. It processes everything extremely fast, and it's in the cluster itself. It acts as a memory engine and is very effective in processing data correctly."
"The product is useful for analytics."
"AI libraries are the most valuable. They provide extensibility and usability. Spark has a lot of connectors, which is a very important and useful feature for AI. You need to connect a lot of points for AI, and you have to get data from those systems. Connectors are very wide in Spark. With a Spark cluster, you can get fast results, especially for AI."
"Apache Spark is known for its ease of use. Compared to other available data processing frameworks, it is user-friendly."
"One of the key features is that Apache Spark is a distributed computing framework. You can help multiple slaves and distribute the workload between them."
"I like Apache Spark's flexibility the most. Before, we had one server that would choke up. With the solution, we can easily add more nodes when needed. The machine learning models are also really helpful. We use them to predict energy theft and find infrastructure problems."
"Cloudera DataFlow is fully compatible with Cloudera's ecosystem and offers high efficiency through native connectors for various ecosystems."
"The initial setup was not so difficult"
"The most effective features are data management and analytics."
"This solution is very scalable and robust."
"DataFlow's performance is okay."
"Anyone who has even a little bit of knowledge of the solution can begin to create things. You don't have to be technical to use the solution."
 

Cons

"Dynamic DataFrame options are not yet available."
"Apache Spark is very difficult to use. It would require a data engineer. It is not available for every engineer today because they need to understand the different concepts of Spark, which is very, very difficult and it is not easy to learn."
"Spark could be improved by adding support for other open-source storage layers than Delta Lake."
"The migration of data between different versions could be improved."
"Apache Spark can improve the use case scenarios from the website. There is not any information on how you can use the solution across the relational databases toward multiple databases."
"It's not easy to install."
"The solution needs to optimize shuffling between workers."
"When you first start using this solution, it is common to run into memory errors when you are dealing with large amounts of data."
"Although their workflow is pretty neat, it still requires a lot of transformation coding; especially when it comes to Python and other demanding programming languages."
"Cloudera DataFlow's UI interface could be enhanced significantly. Memory handling can also be improved to be better than it is today."
"It's an outdated legacy product that doesn't meet the needs of modern data analysts and scientists."
"It is not easy to use the R language. Though I don't know if it's possible, I believe it is possible, but it is not the best language for machine learning."
"There needs to be some simplification of the user interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is an open-source product. If you're using the open-source Apache Spark, no fees are involved at any time. Charges only come into play when using it with other services like Databricks."
"It is an open-source solution, it is free of charge."
"We are using the free version of the solution."
"Spark is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"It is quite expensive. In fact, it accounts for almost 50% of the cost of our entire project."
"Apache Spark is an open-source solution, and there is no cost involved in deploying the solution on-premises."
"Apache Spark is open-source. You have to pay only when you use any bundled product, such as Cloudera."
"Apache Spark is an expensive solution."
"DataFlow isn't expensive, but its value for money isn't great."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
University
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Performing Arts
7%
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Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark?
We use Spark to process data from different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is open-source, so it doesn't incur any charges.
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
There is complexity when it comes to understanding the whole ecosystem, especially for beginners. I find it quite com...
What do you like most about Cloudera DataFlow?
The most effective features are data management and analytics.
What needs improvement with Cloudera DataFlow?
Cloudera DataFlow's UI interface could be enhanced significantly. Memory handling can also be improved to be better t...
What is your primary use case for Cloudera DataFlow?
Cloudera DataFlow is used as an ETL or ELT solution within Cloudera's data pipeline. Our organization heavily relies ...
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Comparisons

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Also Known As

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CDF, Hortonworks DataFlow, HDF
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
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