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Apache Hadoop vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Hadoop
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (7th)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Sushil Arya - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides ease of integration with the IT workflow of a business
When working with Kafka, I saw that the data came in an incremental order. The incremental data processing part is still not very effective in Apache Hadoop. If the data is already there, it can be processed very effectively, especially if the data is coming in every second. If you want to know the location of some data every second, then such data is not processed effectively in Apache Hadoop. I can say that one of the features where improvements are required revolves around the licensing cost of the tool. If the tool can build some licensing structures in a pay-per-use manner, organizations can get the look and feel of Apache Hadoop. Apache Hadoop can offer a licensing structure of the product that can be seen as similar to how AWS operates. Apache Hadoop can look into the capability of processing incremental data. The tool's setup process can be a scope of improvement. Also, it is not very simple because while doing the setup, we need to do all the server settings, including port listing and firewall configurations. If we look at other products on the market, then they can be made simpler. There are certain shortcomings when it comes to the product's technical support part, making it an area where improvements are required. The time frame for the resolution is an area that needs to be improved. The overall communication part of the technical support team also needs improvement.
Matthew Spieth - PeerSpot reviewer
Beneficial real-time analytics, simple setup, and useful tutorials
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve its compatibility with Visual Studio. One of the challenges for people moving from an on-premise to a cloud solution, such as Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, is that you're constantly working in a browser. There are people that have been working for decades on desktop applications. For them to start working in a browser, it's quite a change. Allowing people to work and do their work inside Visual Studio than in the browser, would be a large advantage.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Apache Hadoop is crucial in projects that save and retrieve data daily. Its valuable features are scalability and stability. It is easy to integrate with the existing infrastructure."
"The most important feature is its ability to handle large volumes. Some of our customers have really large volumes, and it is capable of handling their data in terms of the core volume and daily incremental volume. So, its processing power and speed are most valuable."
"Its flexibility in handling and storing large volumes of data is particularly beneficial, as is its resilience, which ensures data redundancy and fault tolerance."
"Apache Hadoop can manage large amounts and volumes of data with relative ease, which is a feature that is beneficial."
"As compared to Hive on MapReduce, Impala on MPP returns results of SQL queries in a fairly short amount of time, and is relatively fast when reading data into other platforms like R."
"Hadoop File System is compatible with almost all the query engines."
"The most valuable feature is the database."
"Most valuable features are HDFS and Kafka: Ingestion of huge volumes and variety of unstructured/semi-structured data is feasible, and it helps us to quickly onboard a new Big Data analytics prospect."
"The most valuable feature is the level of processing power, and being able to complete tasks in parallel."
"Its seamless integration with Azure services is most valuable. If somebody wants to use all Azure services, it is the best solution."
"Fills the gap between big data and classic data warehouses."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is the capabilities, and the integration with other Azure resources, such as Data Factory, Databricks, and Spark for data processing. The overall ability to compose the solution with other Azure resources is valuable."
"Azure Synapse combines the strengths of SQL technologies for effective enterprise data management."
"I like SQL post, which is for storage and distributed computing. Another good feature is the copy activity."
"The main advantage of using this solution is its ability to scale and handle very large amounts of data, in the petabyte range."
"I like how Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics integrates with other Microsoft solutions."
 

Cons

"We would like to have more dynamics in merging this machine data with other internal data to make more meaning out of it."
"The integration with Apache Hadoop with lots of different techniques within your business can be a challenge."
"Since it is an open-source product, there won't be much support."
"The solution could use a better user interface. It needs a more effective GUI in order to create a better user environment."
"General installation/dependency issues were there, but were not a major, complex issue. While migrating data from MySQL to Hive, things are a little challenging, but we were able to get through that with support from forums and a little trial and error."
"There is a lack of virtualization and presentation layers, so you can't take it and implement it like a radio solution."
"The load optimization capabilities of the product are an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The price could be better. I think we would use it more, but the company didn't want to pay for it. Hortonworks doesn't exist anymore, and Cloudera killed the free version of Hadoop."
"Its stability is an issue. They have been releasing a version every six months to one year, which means that there are many versions available, and clients are not up to speed on the latest one that they're offering. From a stability point of view, they could do better. They're still upgrading their Synapse Analytics workspace, and it is not that stable. Its scalability can also be better."
"They should provide a less expensive version with a smaller setup for small businesses. Currently, its price is quite high for entry-level or small businesses. In terms of integration, new connectors are always welcomed."
"The security performance and cost are the two things that needs improvement."
"I would like my team to be able to build pipelines that integrate with the Azure Data Factory."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"It would be ideal if the solution could be better used intuitively by the staff without having a great deal of training."
"It's pay as you go, so you never know what your bill is going to be beforehand, and that's scary for customers. If you have someone who makes a mistake and the program's a loop that is running all night, you could receive a very expensive bill."
"The product could be more feature-rich."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a low cost and powerful solution."
"If my company can use the cloud version of Apache Hadoop, particularly the cloud storage feature, it would be easier and would cost less because an on-premises deployment has a higher cost during storage, for example, though I don't know exactly how much Apache Hadoop costs."
"Do take into consider that data storage and compute capacity scale differently and hence purchasing a "boxed" / 'all-in-one" solution (software and hardware) might not be the best idea."
"​There are no licensing costs involved, hence money is saved on the software infrastructure​."
"For any big enterprise the costs can be handled, and it is suitable for big enterprises because the scale of data is large. For medium and small enterprises, the tool is on the high-price side."
"The price of Apache Hadoop could be less expensive."
"We just use the free version."
"We don't directly pay for it. Our clients pay for it, and they usually don't complain about the price. So, it is probably acceptable."
"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics can be costly, however, a cost-effective approach would be to purchase it in advance through reservation for either one or three years. This will significantly reduce the overall expenses incurred."
"They are cost aggressive, and it integrates well with other Microsoft tools."
"It goes by the usage, and there are some limits. Synapse goes by particular pricing, and it is expensive. Both Azure Synapse Analytics and Snowflake are pretty expensive. They don't have standard pricing. They deal with each customer differently."
"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is an expensive solution and there is a license needed to use it. My company has an enterprise license."
"When we are not using this solution we can simply shut it down saving us costs, which is a nice advantage."
"The solution is very expensive because it often requires the purchase of additional storage."
"We chose the serverless option for the database which has saved us a lot of money. Our costs are approximately £600 per month."
"This is a cost-effective product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
5%
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Hadoop?
It's primarily open source. You can handle huge data volumes and create your own views, workflows, and tables. I can also use it for real-time data streaming.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Hadoop?
The product is open-source, but some associated licensing fees depend on the subscription level. While it might be free for students, organizations typically need to pay for their subscriptions. Th...
What needs improvement with Apache Hadoop?
Hadoop lacks OLAP capabilities. I recommend adding a Delta Lake feature to make the data compatible with ACID properties. Also, video and audio streaming import issues could be improved to ensure p...
How does Amazon Redshift compare with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
Amazon Redshift is very fast, has a very good response time, and is very user-friendly. The initial setup is very straightforward. This solution can merge and integrate well with many different dat...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
The product is easy to use, and anybody can easily migrate to advanced DB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
The financial aspect, including pricing and cost reduction, is not something I focus on.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Microsoft Azure SQL DW, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, MS Azure Synapse Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon, Adobe, eBay, Facebook, Google, Hulu, IBM, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Spotify, AOL, Twitter, University of Maryland, Yahoo!, Cornell University Web Lab
Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Hadoop vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.