Hadoop SQL: 4 Reasons Why BigInsights Is the Best

The latest release of the IBM BigInsights for Apache Hadoop is really taking off because of its great Hadoop SQL functionality, its SQL performance, and standard security model. These BigInsights’ Hadoop SQL attributes are making it easier and faster to implement than other Hadoop SQL competing frameworks and early client implementation successes continue to add testimonials showing the ease of use and compatibility.

1.  First, as I wrote during the IBM INSIGHT conference, the announcement that the DB2 LUW SQL engine is integrated into the IBM BigInsights Hadoop SQL offering is great news. Since the BigInisights Hadoop SQL is the DB2 LUW SQL optimizer, it has twenty plus years of SQL optimizer improvements already built into its SQL engine. Plus all the familiar SQL functions and advanced SQL features already exist and provide the developers with a familiar SQL syntax. Since BigInsights Hadoop SQL is the same SQL syntax, OLAP functions such as CUBE, ROLLUP, and windowing aggregates can be easily copied from existing applications and used within the BigInsights Hadoop SQL environment.
   
   
2. Since the BigInsights has the Hadoop SQL capabilities, it has tremendous performance for all types of business-question related queries. The SQL optimizer has the years of experience and is smart enough to understand the most efficient access methods to get the answers to your query. This was demonstrated through the various client testimonials during the conference along with the great chart below from Eugen Stoianovici’s session 1560: “Hadoop as Storage for Aging Data—Simplicity with Big SQL and DB2.” This chart shows BigInsights Hadoop SQL getting through all the various testing queries quickly when other competing Hadoop SQL frameworks struggle to complete or even execute all the SQL. It also shows that the BigInsights Hadoop SQL compatibility is very robust since it can accept normal multi-platform standard SQL when other Hadoop SQL frameworks need to modify the SQL to their distinct Hadoop SQL dialect to execute. This is where the years of experience of the DB2 LUW SQL optimizer integrated in BigInsights Hadoop SQL provide tremendous, robust performance over other Hadoop SQL frameworks.
3. BigInsights takes the Hadoop SQL from DB2 LUW and also incorporates the Work Load Manager (WLM) framework and infrastructure. These BigInsights built-in work load management WLM facilities help balance the hardware resources used for your different Hadoop SQL workloads and also provide workload priorities to put your computing power to the most important workloads. All the standard WLM Service Classes, Thresholds, Workloads, Work Classes, and Work Actions can be defined within the BigInsights configuration so that applications can be managed for concurrency, proactively, and reactively for any types of workload capacity requirements. This WLM functionality extends the capabilities of BigInsights beyond what other Hadoop dialects offer.
   
   
4. Since the DB2 LUW SQL security standards have been incorporated into BigInsights, standards and authorizations are consistent with industry SQL ANSI standards. This helps the BigInsights Hadoop SQL with the same authorizations using standard GRANT/REVOKE and GROUP statements for security. Also the standard IBM DB2 SQL ROW and COLUMN permissions are the same within BigInsights. These standard SQL Hadoop security conventions help monitoring provide compatibility into your existing infrastructure with tools such as Guardium and other monitoring products.

Hadoop SQL compatibilities are vital for quickly integrating new Hadoop workloads into your infrastructure. With the SQL compatibility within BigInsights you can quickly define, manage, and execute your business processes against your environment.

Here’s a list with links to other posts that may help you improve your DB2 performance, security, and ease-of-use:

5 More DB2 SQL Performance Tips
Another 5 More DB2 SQL Performance Tips
5 Big Data SQL Performance Tips – Fixing Generated SQL
DB2 11 SQL Performance Improvements
5 More SQL Performance Tips for your Big Data
Hadoop SQL: 4 Reasons Why BigInsights Is the Best
Vital Java DB2 SQL Performance Considerations
More DB2 Family Security Best Practices Part 7: Preventing SQL Injection
DB2 SQL Security Audits

Dave Beulke is a system strategist, application architect, and performance expert specializing in Big Data, data warehouses, and high performance internet business solutions. He is an IBM Gold Consultant, Information Champion, President of DAMA-NCR, former President of International DB2 User Group, and frequent speaker at national and international conferences. His architectures, designs, and performance tuning techniques help organization better leverage their information assets, saving millions in processing costs. Follow him on Twitter here (@DBeulke) or connect through LinkedIn here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebeulke).