Obama's Big Data initiative: What it means for Federal IT
Big Data in the U.S. Federal government isn't just for grandiose inter-agency projects. Tactical, operational applications can use Big Data technology too.
Big on Data
Veteran data geek Andrew Brust covers Big Data technologies including Hadoop, NoSQL, Data Warehousing, BI and Predictive Analytics.
Andrew Brust
Andrew J. Brust has worked in the software industry for 25 years as a developer, consultant, entrepreneur and CTO, specializing in application development, databases and business intelligence technology.
Latest Posts
Fast Data hits the Big Data fast lane
Fast Data, used in large enterprises for highly specialized needs, has become more affordable and available to the mainstream. Just when corporations absolutely need it.
Industrial Big Data
Big Data isn't just about clickstreams and status messages. It's about manufacturing turbines, jet engines and even consumer goods, too.
In-memory databases at Microsoft and elsewhere
A Technical Fellow at Microsoft says we're headed for an in-memory database tipping point. What does this mean for Big Data?
Why is Big Data Revolutionary?
Big Data is revolutionary, and not merely the evolution of BI and data warehousing technology. Here's why.
Hadoop 2.0: MapReduce in its place, HDFS all grown-up
Hadoop 2.0 makes MapReduce less compulsory and the distributed file system more reliable.
MapReduce, streaming beyond Java
Hadoop Streaming allows developers to use virtually any programming language to create MapReduce jobs, but it’s a bit of a kludge. The MapReduce programming environment needs to be pluggable.
Making Hadoop optimizations Pervasive
As innovative as Hadoop is in toto, its components can benefit from optimization, perhaps significantly. One vendor that’s been in the database business for three decades isn’t just talking about those optimizations. It’s building products around them.
Microsoft does Hadoop, and JavaScript's the glue
Microsoft has a reputation for modifying external technology when adopting it. But in the case of Hadoop, Microsoft is so far staying true to the core technology, providing optional integration with its own stack, and making it easier for people to work with Hadoop and get excited about it.
Big Data's ground floor consulting opportunity
Big Data is in a golden age of horizontal opportunity, keeping the prerequisite of vertical market expertise at bay. This provides some early opportunities for tech services firms to gain industry specialist expertise. Big Data is a Big Equalizer.