Get Big SQL with BigInsights 2.1

BigInsights 2.1 is now available for download. New in BigInsights 2.1 is the Big SQL capability, which is a full implementation of the SQL-92 standard running on a Hadoop map-reduce cluster. Map-reduce distributes SQL query processing across a cluster of machines, making it optimal for reporting, data warehousing, and OLAP workloads.

Also new in BigInsights 2.1 is the BigInsights QuickStart Edition. QuickStart includes everything in a clean installer and is recommended for learning purposes.

BigInsights is a distribution of the full Hadoop stack. A cluster of 64-bit Linux server is required to run Hadoop.

Next steps

• Learn Hadoop on Big Data University
• Download BigInsights QuickStart 2.1 (VMWare virtual machine)
• Download BigInsights QuickStart 2.1

Big Data University at 50,000

Over 50,000 people have signed up for free online courses about SQL, DB2, and Hadoop at Big Data University!

The courses on Big Data University are self-paced and completion is marked with a certificate. Students support each other and can get expert advice in the forums. There is a range of subjects and levels in the courses.

As a site, Big Data University was launched in January 2011.

New free course: Query languages for Hadoop

Several new courses are now available on Big Data University. They include:

• Text Analytics Essentials
• Query Languages for Hadoop
• Java Fundamentals

These courses follow up on the success of the Hadoop Fundamentals course, which thousands of students have used to brush up on their big data, cluster computing, and analytical skills.

Big Data Dev Day on June 15

If you live in the Silicon Valley part of California, you might want to check out the Big Data Dev Day on June 15, 2012. It's a good opportunity to meet other technical folks, exchange knowledge, as well as get started with a hands-on lab of Hadoop and text analytics.

Creating Social Capital with Big Data

Roberto Zicari just posted a fantastic panel discussion transcript about using big data to create social capital.

Celebrate BigInsights 1.3.0.1 with a free course on Big Data University

IBM BigInsights is a distribution of Hadoop, a framework for massively parallel processing of unstructured data. It has just been updated to 1.3.0.1.

You can easily deploy Hadoop on Amazon EC2 and Rackspace clouds by using one of the BigInsights RightScale templates.

To learn Hadoop, check out one of the free courses on Big Data University. The latest addition is the Text Analytics course.

Next steps

• Learn Hadoop at Big Data University
• Download BigInsights Basic 1.3.0.1
• Run BigInsights in the cloud

Getting started with DB2 Express-C 10.1 on RightScale

DB2 Express-C is the free edition of the IBM DB2 database. Version 10.1 has just become available for download as well as for deployment in your cloud environment.

New features in DB2 Express-C 10.1:
- Time Travel Query for easy historical queries
- Built-in NoSQL support with SPARQL and RDF triplestores
- 98% compatibility for the PL/SQL syntax of Oracle Database

RightScale is an automation layer for deploying software on Amazon Elastic EC2, Rackspace, and other environments. The guide below comes courtesy of Bradley Steinfeld.

Next steps

• Download DB2 Express-C 10.1
• Learn DB2 at Big Data University
• Follow the guide below

Getting started with DB2 Express-C 10.1 on Rightscale

Browse to, http://www.rightscale.com/library/macros. Search for the IBM DB2 Express-C 10.1 Setup Macro.

Then click open in dashboard

Click subscribe to copy the Macro to your account

Then read and accept the license agreement

You will now be presented with the macro page.

 

Click the Run button to run the macro

On the next page do not select anything from the drop downs, just click the Run button.

Then simply answer the prompts.

After answering all prompts, the macro will run. When the macro is completed it will show the following alert:

When you click OK you will be automatically redirected to the newly created deployments page.

Launching the Server

Everything should be already configured so all you need to do is launch the server. Do this by first clicking the > button to the right of the server.

You will then be set the the pre-launch page for the server. From here you can view all the inputs associated with your DB2 server. When you are ready to boot the server click the Launch button.

Your server should now be booting. You from know the boot process is complete when this:

Changed to this:

Using the Server

You can access the servers console (SSH) by clicking the monitor button on the right. Alternatively, if you installed RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) on the server you can simple browse to the servers Public IP or Public DNS Name.

SSH

RDP

By default you can login as user db2inst1 with password password.

Default Macro responses

Congratulations, you now have DB2 running in the cloud. For a good resource to learn more about DB2, check out Big Data University!