Snowflake vs Databricks

Snowflake and Databricks have arisen as significantly upgraded alternatives to the outdated EDW 1.0 and Data Lake 1.0. They utilize new cloud services to aid users in turning a greater proportion of data into usable information. They deliver quicker performance at a cheaper cost because of the price elasticity of the cloud. 

Snowflake and Databricks, with their recent cloud relaunch, best reflect the two major ideological data digesting groups we've seen previously. Snowflake offers a cloud-only EDW 2.0. Meanwhile, Databricks offers a hybrid on-premises-cloud open-source Data Lake 2.0 strategy. In this blog, we will explore all the aspects of Snowflake vs Databrick, which help you choose the best among the two.

What is Snowflake?

Snowflake provides solutions for data retention, computing, and analysis that are significantly quicker, simpler to use, and more versatile than previous options.

Snowflake is not based on current database technologies or “big data” software applications such as Hadoop. Rather than that, Snowflake blends an entirely new SQL query technology with a unique cloud infrastructure.

What are Databricks?

Databricks is a market-leading cloud-based test automation platform for processing and converting huge amounts of data, as well as analyzing the data using machine learning algorithms.

Behind the doors, this Apache-Spark-based platform is a decentralized network, which means that the load is dynamically spread over several cores and adjusts up and down depending on demand.

Advantages of Snowflake

1. Facilitation of implementation - The architecture of Snowflake is both adaptable and efficient. Additionally, it is often regarded as one of the most approachable data warehouses for data migration. Furthermore, because Snowflake is a cloud-based data platform, no complex equipment or IT architecture is required to set up or administer.

2. Initialization of the cloud - Snowflake's structure is designed from the bottom up for cloud computing. A Snowflake database server is excellent for cross-cloud workloads and multi-cloud platforms because of its cloud-first strategy. Snowflake is also accessible on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

3. Performance - Because Snowflake is built on contemporary cloud architecture, it avoids many of the challenges associated with conventional data warehouses, resulting in enhanced performance overall. Snowflake enables near-infinite scalability through the isolation of simultaneous workloads on dedicated resources. This implies that every individual, group, program, or automated job may operate independently of the rest of the system without impairing overall system performance.

4. Administration is not necessary - That is correct. Snowflake is completely cloud-based, requiring no IT infrastructure or management. It has built-in speed optimization, data security, and safe data exchange, and ensures that datasets of any size have rapid access and recovery.

[Related Articles:What are a Snowflake Table & Types]

Advantages of Databricks

1. Languages and surroundings are familiar - Although Databricks is Spark-based, it also supports popular programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL. These technologies are translated on the backend using APIs to allow them to communicate with Spark. This eliminates the need for users to learn additional computer languages for networked analytics.

2. Easily integrates with Microsoft stack - Databricks is secured through the Azure Active Directory architecture. Current credentials authorization can be used, if the appropriate security settings are in place. Access and identity management are handled in the same context. By utilizing Azure Active Directory, connectivity with the full Azure stack, including Data Lake Storage, is made simple.

3. Numerous data sources - Apart from the Azure-based sources described above, Databricks links to a variety of other resources, such as on SQL servers, CSV files, and JSON files.

4. Appropriate for little projects as well - Despite  Databricks being well-suited for large-scale operations, it may also be utilized for smaller projects and improvement. This enables the usage of Databricks as a one-stop solution for any analytics tasks. Companies no longer have to build distinct development environments or virtual machines.

Key Differences: Snowflake vs Databricks

Structure of data

• Snowflake: With the exception of EDW 1.0 and comparable to a cloud environment, Snowflake enables you to load and store organized and semi-structured files directly into the EDW before even organizing the data with an ETL application. Once the data is submitted, Snowflake will immediately turn it into its internal organized format.
• Databricks: As Data Lake 1.0, Databricks supports all types of data in their native format. Indeed, Databricks may be utilized as an ETL tool to arrange complex data so that it could be used by various other tools.

Versatility

• Snowflake: It excels in SQL-based data analysis application cases. Dealing with Snowflake information on scientific computing use cases almost definitely requires dependency on their provider network.
• Databricks: It also supports high-performance SQL queries for Data Analysis use cases. Databricks created open-source Delta Lake to offer another degree of reliability to Data Lake 1.0. Utilizing Databricks Delta Processor on the base of Delta Lake, users may now execute SQL queries at the high rates reserved solely for Database queries to an EDW.

Features

• Snowflake: It has a repository and security capabilities, as well as great support, safety validations, and interconnections, among other things.
• Databricks: Interaction, dynamic exploration, the Databricks engine, task scheduling, analytics dashboard, audits, and notebook processes are all included.

Pricing

• Snowflake: It provides customers with four enterprise-level perspectives. There are four editions: basic, premium, professional, and enterprise for confidential documents.
• Databricks: It offers three business price tiers to its subscribers: those for data science workloads, those for business intelligence workloads, and those for corporate plans.

Conclusion

With Snowflake, you may work on SQL data in a variety of languages. This is especially essential for applications involving advanced analytics and data science. Data scientists primarily utilize R and Python to handle large data. Databricks provides a platform for integrated data science and advanced analysis, as well as secure connectivity for these domains.