Big Data Hadoop Preview Comes to Windows Azure

Microsoft has announced plans to release an additional limited preview of an Apache Hadoop-based service for Windows Azure in the first half of 2012.

Since the first limited preview released in December, customers such as Webtrends and the University of Dundee are using the Hadoop-based service to glean simple, actionable insights from complex data sets hosted in the cloud.

Customers interested in signing up for the latest preview should visit https://www.hadooponazure.com.

Microsoft + Big Data

Unlock business insights from all your structured and unstructured data, including large volumes of data not previously activated, with Microsoft’s Big Data solution. Microsoft’s end-to-end roadmap for Big Data embraces Apache Hadoop™ by distributing enterprise class, Hadoop-based solutions on both Windows Server and Windows Azure.

Key benefits:

• Broader access of Hadoop to end users, IT professionals, and developers, through easy installation and configuration and simplified programming with JavaScript.
• Enterprise-ready Hadoop distribution with greater security, performance, ease of management and options for Hybrid IT usage.
• Breakthrough insights through the use of familiar tools such as Excel, PowerPivot, SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services.

About Hadoop

The Apache Hadoop software library is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers by using a simple programming model. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage.

Rather than rely on hardware to deliver high-availability, the library detects and handles failures at the application layer. This results in a highly-available service on top of a cluster of computers, each of which may be prone to failures.

For More Information

See the announcements at:

• Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2012 to Help Customers Manage “Any Data, Any Size, Anywhere”

•  Do we have the tools we need to navigate the New World of Data?

 

Bruce D. KyleISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation