Hortonworks, a leading contributor to Apache Hadoop, has released Hortonworks Sandbox, a learning environment and on-ramp for anyone interested in learning, evaluating or using Apache Hadoop in the enterprise. This tool seeks to bridge the gap between people who want to learn Hadoop, and the complexity of setting up a cluster with an integrated environment that provides demos, videos, tutorials. Hortonworks Sandbox is a free, self-contained virtual machine and is built using the new Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) 1.2, delivering easy-to-use, high-scale data processing.
Hortonworks Sandbox will be regularly updated by the original Apache Hadoop architects, developers and operators with learning materials for access to new content. “We’re delivering three hands-on, step-by-step tutorials. We are able to integrate videos into Sandbox so we can show the user a use case, we can talk about what the tutorial will aim to provide, and we also provide some background and basics,” explains Cheryle Custer, Hortonworks director of services marketing. Users are also able to upload their own datasets to test and validate the use of Apache Hadoop in their own data architectures.
Sandbox users have access to a comprehensive learning and evaluation environment that enables them to explore the features of Apache Hadoop projects such as Apache Pig, Apache Hive, Apache HCatalog and Apache HBase. “We want to provide the easiest way to bridge the gap between the people who want to learn Hadoop and the complexity of spinning up a small cluster,” Custer explains. The tutorials are developed based on the experiences of the Hortonworks training team who create classes for students to learn Apache Hadoop.
Hortonworks Sandbox is available now for free download at: http://hortonworks.com/community/virtual-sandbox-2/.