Altiscale Releases SQL-on-Hadoop Cloud Storage Service

What does it take to prepare SQL database storage for the Big Data age? Altiscale believes the answer is SQL-on-Hadoop as a service delivered through the cloud, which it has introduced through a new solution that it says is the first to make Hadoop File System (HDFS) data accessible through SQL interfaces.

Altiscale already specializes in delivering Hadoop-as-a-service solutions through its Altiscale Data Cloud platform. The new SQL-on-Hadoop service makes Hadoop data available through the Hive 0.13 + Tex SQL query engine, as well as a web-based SQL query interface.

By expanding its offerings to include a SQL interface for accessing HDFS data, the company hopes to attract business from organizations for which traditional Hadoop deployment required too much investment of time and infrastructure. "The new capabilities of this service are critical steps in enabling the mainstream adoption of Hadoop," Altiscale said, "as companies with extensive SQL assets considering Hadoop are delaying implementation due to the risk, time and resources associated with on-premise solutions."

According to Altiscale, which was founded in 2012 and incubated at Yahoo!, delivering Hadoop storage through the cloud in a SQL-compatible way means companies can build HDFS into their storage infrastructure in a matter of days. It is also pitching the offering as a lowest-TCO solution for Hadoop storage, as well as a low-risk way for companies to test the Hadoop waters with minimal overhead.

Altiscale may be one of the first vendors to move into the SQL-Hadoop compatibility niche, but it's a sure bet it won't be the last. Making HDFS work for organizations that already have SQL expertise and resources on hand is a crucial step toward increasing Hadoop adoption, and there is plenty of opportunity left by building solutions that do just that.