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Apache Ignite VS SQL Azure

Compare Apache Ignite VS SQL Azure and see what are their differences

Apache Ignite logo Apache Ignite

high-performance, integrated and distributed in-memory platform for computing and transacting on...

SQL Azure logo SQL Azure

Microsoft Azure Cloud SQL Database is the developer’s cloud database service. The Azure database as a service is your solution to building and monitoring applications quickly and efficiently.
  • Apache Ignite Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-08
  • SQL Azure Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-06

Apache Ignite features and specs

  • In-Memory Data Grid
    Apache Ignite provides a robust in-memory data grid that can drastically improve data access speeds by storing data in memory across distributed nodes.
  • Scalability
    The system is designed to scale horizontally, allowing users to add more nodes to handle increased loads, thereby ensuring high availability and performance.
  • Distributed Compute Capabilities
    Ignite supports parallel execution of tasks across cluster nodes, which is beneficial for complex computations and real-time processing.
  • Persistence
    Although primarily in-memory, Ignite offers a durable and transactional Persistence layer that ensures data can be persisted on disk, providing a hybrid in-memory and persistent storage solution.
  • SQL Queries
    Ignite offers support for ANSI-99 SQL, which allows users to execute complex SQL queries across distributed datasets easily.
  • Integration
    It integrates well with existing Hadoop and Spark setups, allowing users to enhance their existing data pipelines with Ignite’s capabilities.
  • Fault Tolerance
    Apache Ignite includes built-in mechanisms for recovery and ensures that data copies are maintained across nodes for resilience against node failures.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Ignite

  • Complexity
    Apache Ignite can be complex to set up and manage, especially when configuring a large, distributed system with multiple nodes.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running an in-memory data grid like Ignite requires significant memory resources, which can increase operational costs.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its comprehensive features and distributed nature, there is a steep learning curve associated with effectively utilizing Ignite.
  • Configuration Overhead
    There is substantial configuration overhead involved to optimize performance and ensure proper cluster management.
  • Community Support
    Although it has active development, the community support might not be as robust compared to other more mature solutions, possibly leading to challenges in finding solutions to niche issues.
  • YARN Dependence
    For those looking to integrate with Hadoop, Ignite's optimal performance is sometimes reliant on Hadoop YARN, which can introduce additional complexity.

SQL Azure features and specs

  • Scalability
    SQL Azure provides scalable performance that can be adjusted based on demand without downtime, allowing businesses to handle varying workloads efficiently.
  • Managed Service
    As a fully managed service, SQL Azure reduces administrative overhead by handling updates, backups, and maintenance automatically, freeing up IT resources for other tasks.
  • High Availability
    Built-in high availability and disaster recovery features ensure continuous data access and reliability, minimizing downtime and protecting data integrity.
  • Security
    SQL Azure offers advanced security features, including network isolation, encryption, and threat detection, enhancing data protection and compliance with security standards.
  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
    Seamless integration with other Microsoft services and tools such as Power BI, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Synapse enhances capabilities for data analysis and management.

Possible disadvantages of SQL Azure

  • Cost
    The pay-as-you-go pricing model can become expensive for businesses with large-scale demands or unpredictable usage patterns, potentially increasing operational costs.
  • Limited Control
    Because it is a managed service, users have less control over server configurations and customizations, which can be a limitation for certain specialized requirements.
  • Dependency on Internet Connectivity
    As a cloud-based service, consistent internet connectivity is required to access SQL Azure, which can be a disadvantage for locations with unreliable internet service.
  • Learning Curve
    Organizations may need to invest time and resources into training staff to understand and optimize Azure SQL features, which can delay implementation.
  • Data Transfer Costs
    There may be additional costs associated with transferring data in and out of SQL Azure, particularly for businesses that frequently move large volumes of data.

Apache Ignite videos

Best Practices for a Microservices Architecture on Apache Ignite

More videos:

  • Review - Apache Ignite + GridGain powering up banks and financial institutions with distributed systems

SQL Azure videos

No SQL Azure videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Ignite and SQL Azure)
Databases
53 53%
47% 47
NoSQL Databases
82 82%
18% 18
Relational Databases
27 27%
73% 73
Key-Value Database
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SQL Azure should be more popular than Apache Ignite. It has been mentiond 9 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 Ignite mentions (3)

  • API Caching: Techniques for Better Performance
    Apache Ignite — Free and open-source, Apache Ignite is a horizontally scalable key-value cache store system with a robust multi-model database that powers APIs to compute distributed data. Ignite provides a security system that can authenticate users' credentials on the server. It can also be used for system workload acceleration, real-time data processing, analytics, and as a graph-centric programming model. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: P2P Databases?
    Ignite works as you describe: https://ignite.apache.org/ I wouldn't really recommend this approach, I would think more in terms of subscriptions and topics and less of a 'database'. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • .NET and Apache Ignite: Testing Cache and SQL API features — Part I
    Last days, I started using Apache Ignite as a cache strategy for some applications. Apache Ignite is an open-source In-Memory Data Grid, distributed database, caching, and high-performance computing platform. Source: over 3 years ago

SQL Azure mentions (9)

  • Microsoft Announces the Preview of Serverless for Hyperscale in Azure SQL Database
    Recently, Microsoft announced the preview of serverless for Hyperscale in the Azure SQL Database, which brings together the benefits of serverless and Hyperscale into a single database solution. For full news coverage see InfoQ news item: https://www.infoq.com/news/2023/02/azure-sql-hyperscale-serverless/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Azure SQL Database External REST Endpoints Integration Now in Public Preview
    Microsoft recently announced the public preview of Azure SQL Database External REST Endpoint Integration – an ability to call a REST endpoint natively from Azure SQL Database. For more details see: https://www.infoq.com/news/2022/11/azure-sql-rest-endpoint/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How I Build and Deliver B2B SaaS Software as a 1.5* Person Indie Developer
    Www Services for hosting the marketing site. This includes a Key Vault, Storage Account, Service Bus Namespace, Azure SQL database and an App Service. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • The Difference Between Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, and Data Lakehouses.
    Popular managed cloud data warehouse solutions include Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Database, and Amazon Redshift. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Top 30 Microsoft Azure Services
    Developers need databases to store structured data, like application state and user data. Azure offers a range of managed SQL and NoSQL database solutions. Azure SQL is a suite of services that offer a cloud based relational database experience for different use cases. SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines creates an entire operating system environment running the popular Microsoft Relational Database Management... - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Ignite and SQL Azure, you can also consider the following products

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

SAP HANA - SAP HANA is an in-memory, column-oriented, relational database management system.

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

Microsoft SQL - Microsoft SQL is a best in class relational database management software that facilitates the database server to provide you a primary function to store and retrieve data.

memcached - High-performance, distributed memory object caching system

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