Cloudera enhances Hadoop for enterprises

Cloudera has taken steps to make configuration of large-scale cloud-based data and storage solutions based on Apache Hadoop more accessible for enterprises with the release of a new version of its Cloudera Enterprise platform that introduces full lifecycle management capabilities. The company also rolled out a free express version of its software in an effort to further spread the acceptance of Hadoop.

Hadoop is the open-source, highly scalable and economical data management platform on which such data behemoths as Google and Yahoo! are built. Cloudera was formed to develop and sell subscription-based software that would make the Hadoop configuration applicable in large enterprise IT environments—especially in data-heavy sectors like commercial banking, media, retail and the like.

Cloudera Enterprise 3.5 updates the company’s platform automated service, configuration and monitoring tools, and adds a one-click security configuration for Hadoop clusters—essentially simplifying the management process in Hadoop environments through the entire lifecycle of the deployment.

“Hadoop is challenging because it’s so distributed,” said Charles Zedlewski, VP of product for Cloudera. “So we created a service and configuration manager that allows all kinds of changes—configuration changes, restarts, rebalances and so on. It’s automated, so there’s less operator error, which means less downtime.”

The platform’s Activity Monitor consolidates all user activities into a unified, real-time view of what is happening across a Hadoop cluster, according to the company.

Cloudera also launched Cloudera SCM Express, which is based on the new service and configuration manager in Cloudera Enterprise 3.5 and is designed to make it faster and easier to deploy a Hadoop-based stack—for free, since the developer is giving away the express version of its software. 

“This edition allows a company to download the software and configure and build a complete Hadoop cluster in less than 10 minutes,” Zedlewski said. “For the next tranche of users in the enterprise, the system needs to be more push-button simple.”