Processing data and performing analytics

Data analytics is the process of ingesting, transforming, and visualizing data to discover valuable insights for business decision-making. Over the previous decade, more data has been collected, and customers are looking for greater insights into their data.

These customers also want these insights in the least amount of time, sometimes even in real time. They want more ad hoc queries to answer more business questions. To answer these questions, customers need more powerful and efficient systems.

Batch processing typically involves querying large amounts of cold data. In batch processing, it may take hours to get answers to business questions. For example, you may use batch processing to generate a billing report at the end of the month. Stream processing in real time typically involves querying small amounts of hot data, and it takes only a short amount of time to get answers. MapReduce-based systems such as Hadoop are examples of...