Microsoft adds Hadoop support to SQL Server, data warehouse

Microsoft is responding to the “Big Data” movement by adding support for the open-source Hadoop framework for large-scale data processing to its SQL Server database and Parallel Data Warehouse platform.

The connectors will be available in CTP (community technology preview) form soon, according to a post this week on the official SQL Server Team blog.

Big Data refers to the ever-growing volumes of data being generated by enterprises, particularly from sensors and Web traffic.

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“Our customers have been asking us to help store, manage, and analyze both structured and unstructured data — in particular, data stored in Hadoop environments,” Microsoft said in the blog post.

With the new connectors, customers will be able to interchange data between Hadoop environments, SQL Server and Parallel Data Warehouse, Microsoft said.

Hadoop, which is hosted at the Apache Software Foundation, was formed by Yahoo and is based partly on the MapReduce programming model developed by Google. An increasingly large commercial ecosystem has emerged around Hadoop, with companies such as Cloudera offering services and specialized distributions of the framework.

Microsoft’s move makes sense, given that its data warehousing vendors such as EMC Greenplum and Teradata have already embraced Hadoop, said Forrester Research analyst James Kobielus.

More and more enterprises are running Hadoop clusters and they want to be able to send data from those systems downstream to their data warehouse systems, he added.

But no one vendor can claim to have a fully built-out Hadoop offering, which would include distributions, connectors to Hadoop-related projects such as the Cassandra data store, modeling tools and other components, he said.

There is “no doubt” that like other vendors, Microsoft has serious plans for Hadoop, but it hasn’t made a long-term road map public, Kobielus added.

Microsoft is not embracing Hadoop at the expense of homegrown efforts, having recently released a MapReduce-based programming model, Project Daytona, for use on its Azure cloud platform.

Also this week, Microsoft announced that it has released a second Appliance Update for Parallel Data Warehouse. These updates combine new features for both hardware and software components.

The release includes new connectors for third-party BI (business intelligence) and data-integration tools from SAP, Informatica and Microstrategy.

In addition, a version of the PDW based on Dell hardware is now available, Microsoft said. Pricing starts at less than US$12,000 per terabyte.

Microsoft to boost Bing’s music, TV, movies, game search

Microsoft will unveil new features next week to enhance the Bing search engine’s capabilities to search for entertainment-related content, specifically in areas such as music, television, movies and online games.

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The announcement will be made on Tuesday by Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business, at a press conference in West Hollywood, California, according to an invitation Microsoft sent to journalists.

The goal is to significantly beef up Bing’s handling of entertainment-related queries, an area that draws much interest from users, along with other “verticals” such as health, travel and shopping that Microsoft will also strengthen in the near future, according to people familiar with the plans.

For example, TV search results will get enhanced with programming listings and with the ability to stream episodes from the search engine user interface, these people said.

Likewise, music searches will return richer and more extensive information about artists, concerts and songs, including lyrics, and a music player will let users play back tunes on Bing, these people said. Users will also get options to purchase music.

Movie queries will return smarter results with information about local showtimes and critic reviews, while gaming enthusiasts will get specialized tools to discover games, view ratings and access overall game information in a central, consolidated place.

Some of the new entertainment-search capabilities involve deals and partnerships with other companies, as Microsoft continues its attempts to put up stronger competition in search against market leader Google, these people said.

Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The press conference will be followed by an event about the future of entertainment, hosted by TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest and featuring a panel discussion and musical performances.