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Apache Flink VS Hadoop

Compare Apache Flink VS Hadoop and see what are their differences

Apache Flink logo Apache Flink

Flink is a streaming dataflow engine that provides data distribution, communication, and fault tolerance for distributed computations.

Hadoop logo Hadoop

Open-source software for reliable, scalable, distributed computing
  • Apache Flink Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • Hadoop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-17

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.

Hadoop features and specs

  • Scalability
    Hadoop can easily scale from a single server to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage.
  • Cost-Effective
    It utilizes a distributed infrastructure, allowing you to use low-cost commodity hardware to store and process large datasets.
  • Fault Tolerance
    Hadoop automatically maintains multiple copies of all data and can automatically recover data on failure of nodes, ensuring high availability.
  • Flexibility
    It can process a wide variety of structured and unstructured data, including logs, images, audio, video, and more.
  • Parallel Processing
    Hadoop's MapReduce framework enables the parallel processing of large datasets across a distributed cluster.
  • Community Support
    As an Apache project, Hadoop has robust community support and a vast ecosystem of related tools and extensions.

Possible disadvantages of Hadoop

  • Complexity
    Setting up, maintaining, and tuning a Hadoop cluster can be complex and often requires specialized knowledge.
  • Overhead
    The MapReduce model can introduce additional overhead, particularly for tasks that require low-latency processing.
  • Security
    While improvements have been made, Hadoop's security model is considered less mature compared to some other data processing systems.
  • Hardware Requirements
    Though it can run on commodity hardware, Hadoop can still require significant computational and storage resources for larger datasets.
  • Lack of Real-Time Processing
    Hadoop is mainly designed for batch processing and is not well-suited for real-time data analytics, which can be a limitation for certain applications.
  • Data Integrity
    Distributed systems face challenges in maintaining data integrity and consistency, and Hadoop is no exception.

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

Hadoop videos

What is Big Data and Hadoop?

More videos:

  • Review - Product Ratings on Customer Reviews Using HADOOP.
  • Tutorial - Hadoop Tutorial For Beginners | Hadoop Ecosystem Explained in 20 min! - Frank Kane

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Flink and Hadoop)
Big Data
70 70%
30% 30
Databases
45 45%
55% 55
Stream Processing
100 100%
0% 0
Relational Databases
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache Flink and Hadoop

Apache Flink Reviews

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Hadoop Reviews

A List of The 16 Best ETL Tools And Why To Choose Them
Companies considering Hadoop should be aware of its costs. A significant portion of the cost of implementing Hadoop comes from the computing power required for processing and the expertise needed to maintain Hadoop ETL, rather than the tools or storage themselves.
16 Top Big Data Analytics Tools You Should Know About
Hadoop is an Apache open-source framework. Written in Java, Hadoop is an ecosystem of components that are primarily used to store, process, and analyze big data. The USP of Hadoop is it enables multiple types of analytic workloads to run on the same data, at the same time, and on a massive scale on industry-standard hardware.
5 Best-Performing Tools that Build Real-Time Data Pipeline
Hadoop is an open-source framework that allows to store and process big data in a distributed environment across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage. Rather than relying on hardware to deliver high-availability, the library itself is...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Flink should be more popular than Hadoop. It has been mentiond 40 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.

Apache Flink mentions (40)

  • 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 / 6 days 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 / 11 days 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 / 16 days 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 / 23 days ago
  • Exploring the Power and Community Behind Apache Flink
    In conclusion, Apache Flink is more than a big data processing tool—it is a thriving ecosystem that exemplifies the power of open source collaboration. From its impressive technical capabilities to its innovative funding model, Apache Flink shows that sustainable software development is possible when community, corporate support, and transparency converge. As industries continue to demand efficient real-time data... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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Hadoop mentions (22)

  • Unveiling the Apache License 2.0: A Deep Dive into Open Source Freedom
    One of the key attributes of Apache License 2.0 is its flexible nature. Permitting use in both proprietary and open source environments, it has become the go-to choice for innovative projects ranging from the Apache HTTP Server to large-scale initiatives like Apache Spark and Hadoop. This flexibility is not solely legal; it is also philosophical. The license is designed to encourage transparency and maintain a... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Apache Hadoop: Pioneering Open Source Innovation in Big Data
    Apache Hadoop is more than just software—it’s a full-fledged ecosystem built on the principles of open collaboration and decentralized governance. Born out of a need to process vast amounts of information efficiently, Hadoop uses a distributed file system and the MapReduce programming model to enable scalable, fault-tolerant computing. Central to its success is a diverse ecosystem that includes influential... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Embracing the Future: India's Pioneering Journey in Open Source Development
    Navya: Designed to streamline administrative processes in educational institutions, Navya continues to demonstrate the power of open source in addressing local needs. Additionally, India’s vibrant tech communities are well represented on platforms like GitHub and SourceForge. These platforms host numerous Indian-led projects and serve as collaborative hubs for developers across diverse technology landscapes.... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Where is Java Used in Industry?
    The rise of big data has seen Java arise as a crucial player in this domain. Tools like Hadoop and Apache Spark are built using Java, enabling businesses to process and analyze massive datasets efficiently. Java’s scalability and performance are critical for big data results that demand high trustability. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to Install PySpark on Your Local Machine
    While Spark doesn’t strictly require Hadoop, many users install it for its HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) support. To install Hadoop:. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Flink and Hadoop, you can also consider the following products

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

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

Apache Storm - Apache Storm is a free and open source distributed realtime computation system.

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

PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system.

Spark Mail - Spark helps you take your inbox under control. Instantly see what’s important and quickly clean up the rest. Spark for Teams allows you to create, discuss, and share email with your colleagues