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Apache Storm VS Apache Spark

Compare Apache Storm VS Apache Spark and see what are their differences

Apache Storm logo Apache Storm

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

Apache Spark logo Apache Spark

Apache Spark is an engine for big data processing, with built-in modules for streaming, SQL, machine learning and graph processing.
  • Apache Storm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-03-11
  • Apache Spark Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-31

Apache Storm features and specs

  • Real-Time Processing
    Apache Storm is designed for processing data in real-time, which makes it ideal for applications like fraud detection, recommendation systems, and monitoring tools.
  • Scalability
    Storm is capable of scaling horizontally, allowing it to handle increasing amounts of data by adding more nodes, making it suitable for large-scale applications.
  • Fault Tolerance
    Storm provides robust fault-tolerance mechanisms by rerouting tasks from failed nodes to operational ones, ensuring continuous processing.
  • Broad Language Support
    Apache Storm supports multiple programming languages, including Java, Python, and Ruby, allowing developers to use the language they are most comfortable with.
  • Open Source Community
    Being an Apache project, Storm benefits from a strong open-source community, which contributes to its development and offers abundant resources and support.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Storm

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up and configuring Apache Storm can be complex and time-consuming, requiring detailed knowledge of its architecture and the underlying infrastructure.
  • High Learning Curve
    The architecture and components of Storm can be difficult for new users to grasp, leading to a steeper learning curve compared to some other streaming platforms.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Managing and maintaining a Storm cluster can require significant effort, including monitoring, troubleshooting, and scaling the infrastructure.
  • Error Handling
    While Storm is fault-tolerant, its error handling at the application level can sometimes be challenging, requiring careful design to manage failures effectively.
  • Resource Intensive
    Storm can be resource-intensive, particularly in terms of memory and CPU usage, which can lead to increased costs and necessitate powerful hardware.

Apache Spark features and specs

  • Speed
    Apache Spark processes data in-memory, significantly increasing the processing speed of data tasks compared to traditional disk-based engines.
  • Ease of Use
    Spark offers high-level APIs in Java, Scala, Python, and R, making it accessible to a broad range of developers and data scientists.
  • Advanced Analytics
    Spark supports advanced analytics, including machine learning, graph processing, and real-time streaming, which can be executed in the same application.
  • Scalability
    Spark can handle both small- and large-scale data processing tasks, scaling seamlessly from a single machine to thousands of servers.
  • Support for Various Data Sources
    Spark can integrate with a wide variety of data sources, including HDFS, Apache HBase, Apache Hive, Cassandra, and many others.
  • Active Community
    Spark has a vibrant and active community, providing a wealth of extensions, tools, and support options.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Spark

  • Memory Consumption
    Spark's in-memory processing can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial amounts of RAM, which can drive up costs for large-scale deployments.
  • Complexity in Configuration
    To optimize performance, Spark requires careful configuration and tuning, which can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its ease of use, mastering the full range of Spark's features and best practices can take considerable time and effort.
  • Latency for Small Data
    For smaller datasets or low-latency requirements, Spark might not be the most efficient choice, as other technologies could offer better performance.
  • Integration Overhead
    Though Spark integrates with many systems, incorporating it into an existing data infrastructure can introduce additional overhead and complexity.
  • Community Support Variability
    While the community is active, the support and quality of third-party libraries and tools can be inconsistent, leading to potential challenges in implementation.

Analysis of Apache Spark

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apache Spark is generally considered good, especially for organizations and individuals that require efficient and fast data processing capabilities. It is well-supported, frequently updated, and widely adopted in the industry, making it a reliable choice for big data solutions.

Why this product is good

  • Apache Spark is highly valued because it provides a fast and general-purpose cluster-computing framework for big data processing. It offers extensive libraries for SQL, streaming, machine learning, and graph processing, making it versatile for various data processing needs. Its in-memory computing capability boosts the processing speed significantly compared to traditional disk-based processing. Additionally, Spark integrates well with Hadoop and other big data tools, providing a seamless ecosystem for large-scale data analysis.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists and engineers working with large datasets.
  • Organizations leveraging machine learning and analytics for decision-making.
  • Businesses needing real-time data processing capabilities.
  • Developers looking to integrate with Hadoop ecosystems.
  • Teams requiring robust support for multiple data sources and formats.

Apache Storm videos

Apache Storm Tutorial For Beginners | Apache Storm Training | Apache Storm Example | Edureka

More videos:

  • Review - Developing Java Streaming Applications with Apache Storm
  • Review - Atom Text Editor Option - Real-Time Analytics with Apache Storm

Apache Spark videos

Weekly Apache Spark live Code Review -- look at StringIndexer multi-col (Scala) & Python testing

More videos:

  • Review - What's New in Apache Spark 3.0.0
  • Review - Apache Spark for Data Engineering and Analysis - Overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Storm and Apache Spark)
Big Data
20 20%
80% 80
Databases
9 9%
91% 91
Stream Processing
42 42%
58% 58
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0

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 Storm and Apache Spark

Apache Storm Reviews

Top 15 Kafka Alternatives Popular In 2021
Apache Storm is a recognized, distributed, open-source real-time computational system. It is free, simple to use, and helps in easily and accurately processing multiple data streams in real-time. Because of its simplicity, it can be utilized with any programming language and that is one reason it is a developer’s preferred choice. It is fast, scalable, and integrates well...
5 Best-Performing Tools that Build Real-Time Data Pipeline
Apache Storm is an open-source distributed real-time computational system for processing data streams. Similar to what Hadoop does for batch processing, Apache Storm does for unbounded streams of data in a reliable manner. Built by Twitter, Apache Storm specifically aims at the transformation of data streams. Storm has many use cases like real-time analytics, online machine...

Apache Spark Reviews

15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Apache Spark is an open source data processing and analytics engine that can handle large amounts of data -- upward of several petabytes, according to proponents. Spark's ability to rapidly process data has fueled significant growth in the use of the platform since it was created in 2009, helping to make the Spark project one of the largest open source communities among big...
Top 15 Kafka Alternatives Popular In 2021
Apache Spark is a well-known, general-purpose, open-source analytics engine for large-scale, core data processing. It is known for its high-performance quality for data processing – batch and streaming with the help of its DAG scheduler, query optimizer, and engine. Data streams are processed in real-time and hence it is quite fast and efficient. Its machine learning...
5 Best-Performing Tools that Build Real-Time Data Pipeline
Apache Spark is an open-source and flexible in-memory framework which serves as an alternative to map-reduce for handling batch, real-time analytics and data processing workloads. It provides native bindings for the Java, Scala, Python, and R programming languages, and supports SQL, streaming data, machine learning and graph processing. From its beginning in the AMPLab at...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Spark should be more popular than Apache Storm. It has been mentiond 70 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 Storm mentions (11)

  • Data Engineering and DataOps: A Beginner's Guide to Building Data Solutions and Solving Real-World Challenges
    There are several frameworks available for batch processing, such as Hadoop, Apache Storm, and DataTorrent RTS. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Real Time Data Infra Stack
    Although this article lists a lot of targets for technical selection, there are definitely others that I haven't listed, which may be either outdated, less-used options such as Apache Storm or out of my radar from the beginning, like JAVA ecosystem. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • In One Minute : Hadoop
    Storm, a system for real-time and stream processing. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Elon Musk reportedly wants to fire 75% of Twitter’s employees
    Google has scaled well and has helped others scale, Twitter has always been behind by years. I think the only thing they did well was Twitter Storm, now taken up by Apache Foundation. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Spark for beginners - and you
    Streaming: Sparks Streamings's latency is at least 500ms, since it operates on micro-batches of records, instead of processing one record at a time. Native streaming tools like Storm, Apex or Flink might be better for low-latency applications. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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Apache Spark mentions (70)

  • 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
  • How to Reduce Big Data Analytics Costs by 90% with Karpenter and Spark
    Apache Spark powers large-scale data analytics and machine learning, but as workloads grow exponentially, traditional static resource allocation leads to 30–50% resource waste due to idle Executors and suboptimal instance selection. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • 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 / 3 months ago
  • The Application of Java Programming In Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence
    [1] S. Russell and P. Norvig, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson, 2020. [2] F. Chollet, Deep Learning with Python. Manning Publications, 2018. [3] C. C. Aggarwal, Data Mining: The Textbook. Springer, 2015. [4] J. Dean and S. Ghemawat, "MapReduce: Simplified Data Processing on Large Clusters," Communications of the ACM, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 107-113, 2008. [5] Apache Software Foundation, "Apache... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Automating Enhanced Due Diligence in Regulated Applications
    If you're designing an event-based pipeline, you can use a data streaming tool like Kafka to process data as it's collected by the pipeline. For a setup that already has data stored, you can use tools like Apache Spark to batch process and clean it before moving ahead with the pipeline. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Storm and Apache Spark, you can also consider the following products

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

Google BigQuery - A fully managed data warehouse for large-scale data analytics.

Hadoop - Open-source software for reliable, scalable, distributed computing

Qubole - Qubole delivers a self-service platform for big aata analytics built on Amazon, Microsoft and Google Clouds.

Apache Kafka - Apache Kafka is an open-source message broker project developed by the Apache Software Foundation written in Scala.

Apache Hive - Apache Hive data warehouse software facilitates querying and managing large datasets residing in distributed storage.