Hadoop technology comes to Windows Server

For many businesses, one of the key challenges in the current era is dealing with the ever-increasing amount of data their company generates. One tool many firms have turned to in order to help with this in their data centers is Apache Hadoop, an open-source platform that enables companies to take control of huge data sets. And now, the tool has become even better with the announcement of new availability for Microsoft solutions.

Windows Server availability

One of the leading contributors to Hadoop, Hortonworks, has unveiled its new Hortonworks Data Platform (HPD) for Windows, which it claims is the industry's first Hadoop distribution for use with both Linux operating systems and Microsoft's data center solutions.
It is said that users on either platform will be able to benefit from an identical experience, which could make it a great choice for administrators having to deal with multiple environments, due to the interoperability of the tool.

Powerful functionality

HDP for Windows is able to allow organisations to capture, process and share data in any format and at scale, something that will be more important than ever in the future as data volumes grow exponentially. It also includes all of the necessary components to refine and explore new data sources and draw new business insights from these.

Big step forward

Microsoft has welcomed the news, with a spokesman for the firm stating the platform is an important step for ensuring that Hadoop's capabilities are accessible to as many people as possible. It was noted that the company is committed to providing customers with access to Hadoop-based tools as part of its efforts to support big data solutions.
Shaun Connolly, vice-president of corporate strategy at Hortonworks, added: "Hortonworks Data Platform for Windows extends the Hadoop ecosystem across the Windows operating system, providing organisations with an enterprise-grade, production-tested platform for big data deployments."

This could therefore be great news for any company running Microsoft Windows Server-based data centers that is looking for the most powerful solutions to help them manage the data explosion.