What is the purpose of Flex tables?

[beth]

Hi all,

I keep hearing about how Flex tables are such a cool new feature for Vertica 7. Can someone explain in simple terms how they can be used in the real world? I get the concept behind using them for log files, but why wouldn't a regular table for for that? It's not like I don't know the layout before hand.

Also, anyone tried them in production yet? Any bugs?

[Steve Sarsfield]

It's really about exploration of data rather than daily analytics. In most companies, there is data that exists that's part of an analytical process, and other data that is forgotten, not indexed and not used - dark data. For this data, you might not want to go through a lengthy process to load into Vertica just to see if it can deliver value. Instead, you might want to explore, analyze, and understand its potential first. Then, when you discover value, you can materialize it, optimize it for use on a more consistent basis.

Some of your challenges to managing this data include:
• Dynamic Schemas – modern data structures have dimensions that change quite often, particular application logs as they are updated
• Value of Data for Analytics – Dark data value is often unknown. You may want to explore dark data to understand its value first, without necessarily committing resources to it up front

HP Vertica has developed Flex Zone specifically with these big data/dark data challenges in mind. So, with Flex Zone, you can explore data without having to commit it fully to your licensed terabyte limit in Vertica. Then, plop it into Vertica when you want it faster and optimized.

[JimKnicely]

#Steve,

That's an awesome explanation of why we would want to use Flex tables! Thanks for sharing