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Apache Kudu VS Azure Databricks

Compare Apache Kudu VS Azure Databricks and see what are their differences

Apache Kudu logo Apache Kudu

Apache Kudu is Hadoop's storage layer to enable fast analytics on fast data.

Azure Databricks logo Azure Databricks

Azure Databricks is a fast, easy, and collaborative Apache Spark-based big data analytics service designed for data science and data engineering.
  • Apache Kudu Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-26
  • Azure Databricks Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-02

Apache Kudu features and specs

  • Fast Analytics on Fresh Data
    Kudu is designed for fast analytical processing on up-to-date data. It allows for efficient columnar storage which enables quick read and write capabilities suitable for real-time analytics.
  • Hybrid Workloads
    Supports hybrid workloads of both analytical and transactional processing, making it versatile for use cases that require both types of operations.
  • Seamless Integration
    Integrates well with the Apache ecosystem, particularly with Apache Hadoop, Apache Impala, and Apache Spark, enabling a cohesive environment for data processing and management.
  • Fine-grained Updates
    Allows for efficient updates to individual columns and rows, which is useful for applications that require frequent updates alongside analytic capabilities.
  • Schema Evolution
    Supports schema evolution, which allows for adding, dropping, and renaming columns without costly table rewrites.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Kudu

  • Complexity in Installation and Configuration
    The setup and configuration of Kudu can be complex, requiring a good understanding of its architecture and dependencies.
  • Limited SQL Support
    While Kudu is optimized for analytical tasks, its SQL capabilities are limited compared to some traditional RDBMS systems, which might require additional tools for more complex queries.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    Although growing, the community and ecosystem around Kudu are smaller compared to more established systems, which may result in less available resources and third-party tools.
  • Memory Intensive
    Kudu can be memory-intensive, which might require more hardware resources compared to other systems, especially as data volumes grow.
  • Write Performance Limitations
    While Kudu offers fast reads, its write performance can be slower compared to systems specifically optimized for high-speed transactional processing.

Azure Databricks features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure Databricks enables easy scaling of workloads up or down, allowing users to handle large volumes of data and perform distributed processing efficiently.
  • Integration
    Seamlessly integrates with other Azure services, such as Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure SQL Data Warehouse, facilitating a streamlined data pipeline.
  • Collaboration
    Offers collaborative features like notebooks that allow multiple users to work together easily on data analytics projects.
  • Performance Optimization
    Built on top of Apache Spark, Azure Databricks provides high performance and optimized execution for data engineering and machine learning tasks.
  • Managed Service
    As a fully managed service, it handles infrastructure provisioning and maintenance, enabling users to focus on data insights rather than backend management.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Databricks

  • Cost
    Azure Databricks can be expensive, particularly for large-scale and long-running workloads, which may be a concern for budget-conscious organizations.
  • Complexity
    Despite its capabilities, Azure Databricks may have a steep learning curve, especially for users not familiar with Apache Spark.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Leveraging Azure-specific services can lead to vendor lock-in, making it challenging to migrate workloads and data to other cloud platforms.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    As a cloud-native service, it requires an active internet connection and might not suit scenarios that require offline processing.
  • Compliance Concerns
    Due to Azure Databricks' integration with Azure, users need to carefully manage compliance and data governance, which might be complex in multi-regional deployments.

Apache Kudu videos

Apache Kudu and Spark SQL for Fast Analytics on Fast Data (Mike Percy)

More videos:

  • Review - Apache Kudu (Incubating): New Hadoop Storage for Fast Analytics on Fast Data
  • Review - Apache Kudu: Fast Analytics on Fast Data | DataEngConf SF '16

Azure Databricks videos

Azure Databricks is Easier Than You Think

More videos:

  • Review - Ingest, prepare & transform using Azure Databricks & Data Factory | Azure Friday
  • Review - Azure Databricks - What's new! | DB102

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Kudu and Azure Databricks)
Technical Computing
36 36%
64% 64
Office & Productivity
41 41%
59% 59
Business & Commerce
42 42%
58% 58
Data Dashboard
27 27%
73% 73

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 Kudu and Azure Databricks

Apache Kudu Reviews

We have no reviews of Apache Kudu yet.
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Azure Databricks Reviews

10 Best Big Data Analytics Tools For Reporting In 2022
Azure Databricks is a data analytics tool optimized for Microsoft’s Azure cloud services solution. It provides three development environments for data-intensive apps, namely Databricks SQL, Databricks Machine Learning, and Databricks Data Science & Engineering.The platform supports languages including Python, Java, R, Scala, and SQL, plus data science frameworks and...
Source: theqalead.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Azure Databricks seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 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 Kudu mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Apache Kudu yet. Tracking of Apache Kudu recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Azure Databricks mentions (2)

  • Top 30 Microsoft Azure Services
    In the big data space, Azure offers Azure Databricks. This is an Apache Spark big data analytics and machine learning service over a Distributed File System. The distributed cluster of nodes running analytics and AI operations in parallel allow for fast processing of large volumes of data and integration with popular machine learning libraries such as PyTorch unleash endless possibilities for custom ML. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • ZooKeeper-free Kafka is out. First Demo
    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/databricks. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Kudu and Azure Databricks, you can also consider the following products

MyAnalytics - MyAnalytics, now rebranded to Microsoft Viva Insights, is a customizable suite of tools that integrates with Office 365 to drive employee engagement and increase productivity.

IBM Cloud Pak for Data - Move to cloud faster with IBM Cloud Paks running on Red Hat OpenShift – fully integrated, open, containerized and secure solutions certified by IBM.

MicroStrategy - MicroStrategy is a cloud-based platform providing business intelligence, mobile intelligence and network applications.

AWS Trusted Advisor - Trusted Advisor helps AWS customers reduce cost, increase performance, and improve security by optimizing their AWS environments.

ATLAS.ti - ATLAS.ti is a powerful workbench for the qualitative analysis of large bodies of textual, graphical, audio and video data. It offers a variety of sophisticated tools for accomplishing the tasks associated with any systematic approach to "soft" data.

Arcadia Enterprise - Arcadia Enterprise is the ultimate native BI for data lakes with real-time streaming visualizations, all without adding hardware or moving data.