HP today released a complete platform upgrade of its Vertica Analytic Database, just four months after HP acquired the data warehouse appliance vendor in February.

Most of the new and enhanced features in Vertica 5.0 have likely been in development for some time prior to the acquisition. None are particularly groundbreaking, but as a whole they indicate HP intends to build on Vertica’s strengths, particularly a. its ability to operate in cloud-based and virtual environments and b. its in-database analytic functionality.

Quickly Ramp-up, Wind Down Targeted Data Marts

Vertica was the first analytic database vendor to optimize its platform for cloud environments, making its database available on-demand via Amazon’s EC2 in 2008. In release 5.0, HP builds on this legacy, simplifying the task of expanding and contracting deployments in the cloud. Administrators can easily add and remove nodes with the push of a button, according to Vertica, making it easy to ramp-up and wind-down virtual data marts for temporary but targeted analysis.

Vertica Vice President of Products and Business Development Colin Mahony live inside theCube at HP Discover.



Two of the more attractive benefits of deploying analytics in the cloud, public or private, are flexibility and speed. In a traditional environment where analytic databases and applications are tied to specific (often proprietary) hardware, ramping up a new deployment for a “quick-hit” is expensive, complicated and, consequently, often not worth the time and effort.

In contrast, the elasticity of the cloud means administrators can provision servers and storage on which to create temporary data marts in short order, and decommission them when the job is over. You pay for only what you use. Vertica’s push-button functionality essentially simplifies this task further, adding to the cloud-based analytics value prop. Even non-advanced users could potentially add and remove data mart deployments if the functionality is as straightforward as Vertica claims, reducing the burden on administrators and allowing them to concentrate on more pressing/complex jobs.

Customize In-Database Analytics in SQL

Vertica 5.0 also includes a new software development kit for customizing in-database analytic functions. The SDK allows developers to write and implement customized user-defined functions, including MapReduce jobs, in standard SQL. “I think that potentially changes the range of things that people will be able to use Vertica for,” said Dan Holle, HP Vertica’s CTO.

This is an important addition to the Vertica platform. It opens up the platform to a wider range of SQL developers and increases the potential use cases for Vertica. It also allows developers to keep the analytics inside the database, close to where the data lives, instead of exporting and loading the data into a separate analytic database. Vertica supported in-database analytics before this latest upgrade, but the new SDK essentially simplifies the process of creating and inserting the code into the warehouse.

Both additions make working with Vertica more straightforward and require less expertise. They also increase the speed at which developers can experiment with new analytic models and administrators can deploy tactical data marts.

Tighter Integration with HP Converged Infrastructure Coming

Interestingly, HP is not putting much emphasis on integration between Vertica 5.0 and the HP converged infrastructure. Yet. According to the company, Vertica 5.0, which itself is available now, “will soon be available on the HP Vertica Analytics System, a fully integrated technology stack, based on HP Converged Infrastructure, including hardware, management software applications, consulting and HP Solution Support services.”

HP unveiled the HP Vertica Analytics System earlier this month at HP Discover, where converged infrastructures – pre-optimized server, storage and networking delivered as a single SKU – was the major theme. I expect Vertica to play an increasingly important role in HP’s converged infrastructure push. The tighter the integration between the two, the easier it will be to deploy and manage Vertica in HP environments.

I suspect the only reason this integration is still to come as opposed to available now is simply one of timing. It’s been just over a quarter since the acquisition, and HP likely doesn’t want to rush integrating Vertica with its larger converged infrastructure offering, which is itself still being developed.

All-in-all Vertica 5.0 is a solid if not particularly flashy release. HP still needs to do a better job of brining Vertica into its larger portfolio, particularly its converged infrastructure push. But the 5.0 release keeps Vertica in the upper-tier of MPP data warehouse appliance offerings along with EMC Greenplum and Teradata Aster Data thanks to improved deployment and development capabilities.