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Presto DB VS Apache Arrow

Compare Presto DB VS Apache Arrow and see what are their differences

Presto DB logo Presto DB

Distributed SQL Query Engine for Big Data (by Facebook)

Apache Arrow logo Apache Arrow

Apache Arrow is a cross-language development platform for in-memory data.
  • Presto DB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-18
  • Apache Arrow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-03

Presto DB features and specs

  • High-Performance Query Engine
    Presto is designed for high-performance querying, capable of performing complex analytics and large-scale data processing at interactive speeds.
  • Distributed SQL Query Engine
    Presto can scale out to large clusters of machines, allowing for efficient distribution of queries over multiple servers to handle big data workloads.
  • Versatility
    Supports querying data from multiple data sources such as Hadoop, relational databases, NoSQL databases, and cloud object storage within a single query.
  • ANSI-SQL Compatibility
    Presto supports ANSI SQL, making it easier for users familiar with SQL to adapt and write queries without a steep learning curve.
  • Open Source
    Presto is an open-source project, which means it benefits from continuous community contributions and improvements, keeping it up-to-date and robust.
  • Extensible
    Presto's architecture is designed to be extensible, allowing users to add custom functions and connectors, tailored to specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Presto DB

  • Resource Intensive
    High performance comes with significant resource requirements, necessitating robust infrastructure to realize its full potential.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and configuring Presto can be complex and time-consuming, often requiring expertise and an understanding of its various components.
  • Limited Support for Transactions
    Presto is primarily designed for reading data and performing analytics, and it has limited support for transactional processing compared to traditional relational databases.
  • Community Support
    While it has a vibrant open-source community, users may find the support less comprehensive than that provided by commercial enterprise solutions.
  • Latency for Small Queries
    Designed for big data and complex queries, Presto may exhibit higher latency for small, simple queries compared to specialized databases optimized for such use cases.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Managing and maintaining a Presto cluster can be labor-intensive, requiring ongoing tuning and maintenance to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

Apache Arrow features and specs

  • In-Memory Columnar Format
    Apache Arrow stores data in a columnar format in memory which allows for efficient data processing and analytics by enabling operations on entire columns at a time.
  • Language Agnostic
    Arrow provides libraries in multiple languages such as C++, Java, Python, R, and more, facilitating cross-language development and enabling data interchange between ecosystems.
  • Interoperability
    Arrow's ability to act as a data transfer protocol allows easy interoperability between different systems or applications without the need for serialization or deserialization.
  • Performance
    Designed for high performance, Arrow can handle large data volumes efficiently due to its zero-copy reads and SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) operations.
  • Ecosystem Integration
    Arrow integrates well with various data processing systems like Apache Spark, Pandas, and more, making it a versatile choice for data applications.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Arrow

  • Complexity
    The use of Apache Arrow can introduce additional complexity, especially for smaller projects or those which do not require high-performance data interchange.
  • Learning Curve
    Getting accustomed to Apache Arrow can take time due to its unique in-memory format and APIs, especially for developers who are new to columnar data processing.
  • Memory Usage
    While Arrow excels in speed and performance, the memory consumption can be higher compared to row-based storage formats, potentially becoming a bottleneck.
  • Maturity
    Although rapidly evolving, some Arrow components or language implementations may not be as mature or feature-complete, potentially leading to limitations in certain use cases.
  • Integration Challenges
    While Arrow aims for broad compatibility, integrating it into existing systems may require substantial effort, affecting development timelines.

Analysis of Presto DB

Overall verdict

  • PrestoDB is considered a strong choice for organizations needing to perform fast and complex analytic queries. Its ability to execute SQL queries on big data at lightning speeds makes it an attractive tool for data-driven organizations. However, the choice of PrestoDB depends on specific use cases, existing infrastructure, and the team's familiarity with its architecture and operational demands.

Why this product is good

  • PrestoDB is a highly-regarded distributed SQL query engine that excels in speed and efficiency for querying large datasets. It's designed for running interactive analytic queries against data sources of all sizes. Some of its core strengths include its ability to query data across a wide variety of sources, scalability, and strong community support. It's often chosen for its capability to integrate seamlessly in environments requiring fast data processing and analysis without the need to move or transform data extensively.

Recommended for

    PrestoDB is ideal for technology firms, data-driven companies, and organizations in need of real-time data analytics. It is especially well-suited for those with existing big data frameworks (like Hadoop, Kafka, and Cassandra) who require a performant query engine to leverage large datasets efficiently. It's recommended for teams familiar with distributed systems who need the flexibility and speed offered by PrestoDB's architecture.

Presto DB videos

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Apache Arrow videos

Wes McKinney - Apache Arrow: Leveling Up the Data Science Stack

More videos:

  • Review - "Apache Arrow and the Future of Data Frames" with Wes McKinney
  • Review - Apache Arrow Flight: Accelerating Columnar Dataset Transport (Wes McKinney, Ursa Labs)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Presto DB and Apache Arrow)
Data Dashboard
100 100%
0% 0
Databases
32 32%
68% 68
Database Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Big Data
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Arrow should be more popular than Presto DB. 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.

Presto DB mentions (10)

  • Data Warehouses and Data Lakes: Understanding Modern Data Storage Paradigms ๐Ÿ“ฆ
    Follow Presto at Official Website, Linkedin, Youtube, and Slack channel to join the community. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Introduction to Presto: Open Source SQL Query Engine that's changing Big Data Analytics
    In today's data-driven world, organizations face a constant challenge: how to analyse massive datasets quickly and efficiently without moving data between disparate systems. Presto, an open-source distributed SQL query engine that's revolutionizing how we approach big data analytics. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Twitter's 600-Tweet Daily Limit Crisis: Soaring GCP Costs and the Open Source Fix Elon Musk Ignored
    Presto: Presto is an open-source distributed SQL query engine that enables querying data from various sources. It provides fast and interactive analytics capabilities, supporting a wide range of data formats and integration with different storage systems. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Using IRIS and Presto for high-performance and scalable SQL queries
    The rise of Big Data projects, real-time self-service analytics, online query services, and social networks, among others, have enabled scenarios for massive and high-performance data queries. In response to this challenge, MPP (massively parallel processing database) technology was created, and it quickly established itself. Among the open-source MPP options, Presto (https://prestodb.io/) is the best-known... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Parsing logs from multiple data sources with Ahana and Cube
    Presto is an open-source distributed SQL query engine, originally developed at Facebook, now hosted under the Linux Foundation. It connects to multiple databases or other data sources (for example, Amazon S3). We can use a Presto cluster as a single compute engine for an entire data lake. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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Apache Arrow mentions (40)

  • Show HN: Typed-arrow โ€“ compileโ€‘time Arrow schemas for Rust
    I had no idea what Arrow is: https://arrow.apache.org or arrow-rs: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Show HN: Pontoon, an open-source data export platform
    - Open source: Pontoon is free to use by anyone Under the hood, we use Apache Arrow (https://arrow.apache.org/) to move data between sources and destinations. Arrow is very performant - we wanted to use a library that could handle the scale of moving millions of records per minute. In the shorter-term, there are several improvements we want to make, like:. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Unlocking DuckDB from Anywhere - A Guide to Remote Access with Apache Arrow and Flight RPC (gRPC)
    Apache Arrow : It contains a set of technologies that enable big data systems to process and move data fast. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Using Polars in Rust for high-performance data analysis
    One of the main selling points of Polars over similar solutions such as Pandas is performance. Polars is written in highly optimized Rust and uses the Apache Arrow container format. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Kotlin DataFrame โค๏ธ Arrow
    Kotlin DataFrame v0.14 comes with improvements for reading Apache Arrow format, especially loading a DataFrame from any ArrowReader. This improvement can be used to easily load results from analytical databases (such as DuckDB, ClickHouse) directly into Kotlin DataFrame. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Presto DB and Apache Arrow, you can also consider the following products

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

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

Looker - Looker makes it easy for analysts to create and curate custom data experiencesโ€”so everyone in the business can explore the data that matters to them, in the context that makes it truly meaningful.

Apache Parquet - Apache Parquet is a columnar storage format available to any project in the Hadoop ecosystem.

Jupyter - Project Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. Ready to get started? Try it in your browser Install the Notebook.

DuckDB - DuckDB is an in-process SQL OLAP database management system