Cloudera Improves Hadoop Big Data Features and Security

Sean Michael

Updated · Oct 16, 2014

Hadoop vendor Cloudera has rolled out a new enterprise platform release and improved security controls for Big Data processing.

Cloudera Enterprise 5.2 leverages the company’s open-source CDH (Cloudera Distribution of Hadoop) project and provides users with additional enterprise-grade hardening. Additions that provide enhanced security for data at rest and in motion are among the key improvements that Cloudera is bringing to Hadoop.

The security innovations leverage technology from the Apache Sentry project which Cloudera helps lead. Cloudera first open sourced the Sentry technology in July of 2013. With Cloudera Enterprise 5.2, Sentry policies can now be created and managed in the Hadoop user interface.

Additionally Cloudera Enterprise 5.2 now enables easier cryptographic key management with the Navigator Key Trustee Server.

Cloudera also claims that its Hadoop distribution has achieved PCI security certification. Cloudera did not respond to a request for comment from Enterprise Apps Today about which PCI certifications it has actually achieved and which components of its solution are considered to be certified. 


Impala Advancement

In addition to the improved security, Cloudera Enterprise 5.2 also includes the Impala 2.0 real time query engine. Cloudera first announced the Impala project in October 2012 as a way to help accelerate data processing, largely via the Hadoop MapReduce technology. The first generally available Impala release debuted in May of 2013.

“Impala is flat-out the fastest SQL engine in the ecosystem today, and version 2.0 extends the enterprise-grade capabilities required for mission-critical SQL Big Data applications,” Mike Olson, chief strategy officer at Cloudera, said in a statement. “Our customers, our partners and even our competitors have embraced Impala, creating a standard across the industry.”

The other big new element in Cloudera Enterprise 5.2 is Cloudera Director, which is a deployment and management tool for Hadoop.

“With Cloudera Director, we are delivering a carefully curated, unified platform for Hadoop that’s secure, compliance-ready and open to provide choice and flexibility with cloud deployments,” Charles Zedlewski, vice president, Products at Cloudera, said in a statement.

Red Hat Partnership

Cloudera is also entering into an enhanced partnership with Linux vendor Red Hat to help build and deliver Big Data processing platforms. Scott Armstrong, director of Business Development at Cloudera, said the partnership is not exclusive.

“However, our engineering team is now using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform internally for testing,” Armstrong said. “So we expect great collaboration and joint solution development to happen going forward.”

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at Enterprise Apps Today and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

Sean Michael
Sean Michael

Sean Michael is a writer who focuses on innovation and how science and technology intersect with industry, technology Wordpress, VMware Salesforce, And Application tech. TechCrunch Europas shortlisted her for the best tech journalist award. She enjoys finding stories that open people's eyes. She graduated from the University of California.

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