Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Understanding Windows Azure
HDInsight Service
Implementing a Big Data solution is cumbersome and involves significant deployment cost and effort at the
beginning to set up the entire ecosystem. It can be a tricky decision for any company to invest such a huge amount of
money and resources, especially if that company is merely trying to evaluate a Big Data solution, or if they are unsure
of the value that a Big Data solution may bring to the business.
Microsoft offers the Windows Azure HDInsight service as part of an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud
offering. This arrangement relieves businesses from setting up and maintaining the Big Data infrastructure on their
own, so they can focus more on business-specific solutions that execute on the Microsoft cloud data centers. This
chapter will provide insight into the various Microsoft cloud offerings and the Windows Azure HDInsight service.
Microsoft's Cloud-Computing Platform
Windows Azure is an enterprise-class, cloud-computing platform that supports both Platform as a Service (PaaS)
to eliminate complexity and IaaS for flexibility. IaaS is essentially about getting virtual machines that you must
then configure and manage just as you would any hardware that you owned yourself. PaaS essentially gives you
preconfigured machines, and really not even machines, but a preconfigured platform having Windows Azure and all
the related elements in place and ready for you to use. Thus, PaaS is less work to configure, and you can get started
faster and more easily. Use PaaS where you can, and IaaS where you need to.
With Windows Azure, you can use PaaS and IaaS together and independently—you can't do that with other
vendors. Windows Azure integrates with what you have, including Windows Server, System Center, Linux, and others.
It supports heterogeneous languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, and data services for No SQL, SQL, and
Hadoop. So, if you need to tap into the power of Big Data, simply pair Azure web sites with HDInsight to mine any size
data and compelling business analytics to make adjustments to get the best possible business results.
A Windows Azure subscription grants you access to Windows Azure services and to the Windows Azure
Management Portal (
ht
tps://manage.windowsazure.com
). The terms of the Windows Azure account, which is
acquired through the Windows Azure Account Portal, determine the scope of activities you can perform in the
Management Portal and describe limits on available storage, network, and compute resources. A Windows Azure
subscription has two aspects:
•
The Windows Azure storage account, through which resource usage is reported and services
are billed. Each account is identified by a Windows Live ID or corporate e-mail account and
associated with at least one subscription. The account owner monitors usage and manages
billings through the Windows Azure Account Center.
•
The subscription itself, which controls the access and use of Windows Azure subscribed
services by the subscription holder from the Management Portal.
