Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Alibaba Object Storage Service VS Apache Flink

Compare Alibaba Object Storage Service VS Apache Flink and see what are their differences

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Alibaba Object Storage Service logo Alibaba Object Storage Service

Alibaba Object Storage Service is an encrypted and secure cloud storage service which stores, processes and accesses massive amounts of data

Apache Flink logo Apache Flink

Flink is a streaming dataflow engine that provides data distribution, communication, and fault tolerance for distributed computations.
  • Alibaba Object Storage Service Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21
  • Apache Flink Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

Alibaba Object Storage Service features and specs

  • Scalability
    Alibaba Object Storage Service (OSS) offers virtually unlimited storage capacity, allowing businesses to scale their storage needs up or down based on demand.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    OSS provides a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which helps optimize costs as users only pay for the storage and resources they actually use.
  • Global Accessibility
    With a global network of data centers, OSS enables fast and reliable data access from anywhere in the world, helping businesses operate at a global scale.
  • Durability and Reliability
    OSS is designed to provide high durability and availability for stored data, featuring multiple copies across data centers to prevent data loss.
  • Security Features
    Alibaba OSS includes comprehensive security features like data encryption, access control policies, and real-time monitoring to ensure data protection.
  • Integration
    OSS integrates seamlessly with various Alibaba Cloud services and third-party applications, allowing for streamlined workflows and process automation.

Possible disadvantages of Alibaba Object Storage Service

  • Complex Pricing Structure
    The pricing model can be complex with various charges for data storage, transfer, and API requests, which might make cost predictions challenging.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve in understanding and utilizing all the features and configurations offered by Alibaba's OSS.
  • Support Limitations
    Some users may find the customer support options limited or difficult to access, which can hinder problem resolution and implementation.
  • Region-Specific Features
    Certain features or performance enhancements may only be available in specific geographic regions, which could limit capabilities for some users.
  • Data Transfer Costs
    While storage costs are competitive, data transfer, especially out of Alibaba Cloud, can incur significant expenses, impacting overall cost efficiency.

Apache Flink features and specs

  • Real-time Stream Processing
    Apache Flink is designed for real-time data streaming, offering low-latency processing capabilities that are essential for applications requiring immediate data insights.
  • Event Time Processing
    Flink supports event time processing, which allows it to handle out-of-order events effectively and provide accurate results based on the time events actually occurred rather than when they were processed.
  • State Management
    Flink provides robust state management features, making it easier to maintain and query state across distributed nodes, which is crucial for managing long-running applications.
  • Fault Tolerance
    The framework includes built-in mechanisms for fault tolerance, such as consistent checkpoints and savepoints, ensuring high reliability and data consistency even in the case of failures.
  • Scalability
    Apache Flink is highly scalable, capable of handling both batch and stream processing workloads across a distributed cluster, making it suitable for large-scale data processing tasks.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Flink has a rich set of APIs and integrations with other big data tools, such as Apache Kafka, Apache Hadoop, and Apache Cassandra, enhancing its versatility and ease of integration into existing data pipelines.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Flink

  • Complexity
    Flink’s advanced features and capabilities come with a steep learning curve, making it more challenging to set up and use compared to simpler stream processing frameworks.
  • Resource Intensive
    The framework can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial memory and CPU resources for optimal performance, which might be a concern for smaller setups or cost-sensitive environments.
  • Community Support
    While growing, the community around Apache Flink is not as large or mature as some other big data frameworks like Apache Spark, potentially limiting the availability of community-contributed resources and support.
  • Ecosystem Maturity
    Despite its integrations, the Flink ecosystem is still maturing, and certain tools and plugins may not be as developed or stable as those available for more established frameworks.
  • Operational Overhead
    Running and maintaining a Flink cluster can involve significant operational overhead, including monitoring, scaling, and troubleshooting, which might require a dedicated team or additional expertise.

Analysis of Apache Flink

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apache Flink is considered a good distributed stream processing framework.

Why this product is good

  • Rich api
    Flink offers a rich set of APIs for various levels of abstraction, catering to different needs of developers.
  • Scalability
    Flink provides excellent horizontal scalability, making it suitable for handling large data streams and high-throughput applications.
  • Fault tolerance
    Flink's checkpointing mechanism ensures fault-tolerance, maintaining data state consistency even after failures.
  • Ease of integration
    Flink integrates well with other big data tools and ecosystems, facilitating broader data architecture designs.
  • Real-time processing
    It excels at processing data in real-time, allowing for immediate insights and action on streaming data.
  • Community and support
    Being a part of the Apache Software Foundation, Flink benefits from a large community and comprehensive documentation.
  • Complex event processing
    It supports complex event processing, which is essential for many real-time applications.

Recommended for

  • real-time analytics
  • stream data processing
  • complex event processing
  • machine learning in streaming applications
  • applications requiring high-throughput and low-latency processing
  • companies looking for robust fault-tolerance in distributed systems

Alibaba Object Storage Service videos

No Alibaba Object Storage Service videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Apache Flink videos

GOTO 2019 • Introduction to Stateful Stream Processing with Apache Flink • Robert Metzger

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Apache Flink Tutorial | Flink vs Spark | Real Time Analytics Using Flink | Apache Flink Training
  • Tutorial - How to build a modern stream processor: The science behind Apache Flink - Stefan Richter

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Alibaba Object Storage Service and Apache Flink)
Cloud Storage
100 100%
0% 0
Big Data
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Computing
100 100%
0% 0
Stream Processing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Flink seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 41 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Alibaba Object Storage Service mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Alibaba Object Storage Service yet. Tracking of Alibaba Object Storage Service recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Apache Flink mentions (41)

  • What is Apache Flink? Exploring Its Open Source Business Model, Funding, and Community
    Continuous Learning: Leverage online tutorials from the official Flink website and attend webinars for deeper insights. - Source: dev.to / 28 days ago
  • Is RisingWave the Next Apache Flink?
    Apache Flink, known initially as Stratosphere, is a distributed stream processing engine initiated by a group of researchers at TU Berlin. Since its initial release in May 2011, Flink has gained immense popularity in both academia and industry. And it is currently the most well-known streaming system globally (challenge me if you think I got it wrong!). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Every Database Will Support Iceberg — Here's Why
    Apache Iceberg defines a table format that separates how data is stored from how data is queried. Any engine that implements the Iceberg integration — Spark, Flink, Trino, DuckDB, Snowflake, RisingWave — can read and/or write Iceberg data directly. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • RisingWave Turns Four: Our Journey Beyond Democratizing Stream Processing
    The last decade saw the rise of open-source frameworks like Apache Flink, Spark Streaming, and Apache Samza. These offered more flexibility but still demanded significant engineering muscle to run effectively at scale. Companies using them often needed specialized stream processing engineers just to manage internal state, tune performance, and handle the day-to-day operational challenges. The barrier to entry... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Twitter's 600-Tweet Daily Limit Crisis: Soaring GCP Costs and the Open Source Fix Elon Musk Ignored
    Apache Flink: Flink is a unified streaming and batching platform developed under the Apache Foundation. It provides support for Java API and a SQL interface. Flink boasts a large ecosystem and can seamlessly integrate with various services, including Kafka, Pulsar, HDFS, Iceberg, Hudi, and other systems. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Alibaba Object Storage Service and Apache Flink, you can also consider the following products

IBM Cloud Object Storage - IBM Cloud Object Storage is a platform that offers cost-effective and scalable cloud storage for unstructured data.

Apache Spark - Apache Spark is an engine for big data processing, with built-in modules for streaming, SQL, machine learning and graph processing.

Wasabi Cloud Object Storage - Storage made simple. Faster than Amazon's S3. Less expensive than Glacier.

Spring Framework - The Spring Framework provides a comprehensive programming and configuration model for modern Java-based enterprise applications - on any kind of deployment platform.

Contabo Object Storage - S3-compatible cloud object storage with unlimited, free transfer at a fraction of what others charge. Easy migration & predictable billing. Sign up now & save.

Amazon Kinesis - Amazon Kinesis services make it easy to work with real-time streaming data in the AWS cloud.