This being Hadoop week, Cloudera, the Apache Hadoop commercializer, materialized new software to manage the refractory widgetry over a deployment's lifecycle. It's supposed to give users the confidence to run Hadoop in production.

Cloudera Enterprise 3.5 is an update of the company's subscription-based configuration, monitoring and management tools that includes new tools as well as one-click security for Hadoop clusters.

It promises an activity monitor that lets users see what's happening in real-time at both a high and low level and identify bottlenecks. It's got automated security for enforcing rules and restrictions across the system with a click too.

The company also launched Cloudera SCM Express, which is supposed to make it easier and quicker to install and configure Apache Hadoop and with less training. It's based on the new Service and Configuration Manager (SCM) in Enterprise 3.5 and is supposed to automate changes, cut deployment time and provide cluster-wide real-time views of nodes and services running in a single centralized location for easier configuration across clusters.

Unlike Enterprise 3.5, SCM Express is free and will let users develop and centrally operate a complete Apache Hadoop cluster of up to 50 nodes. It's available in Cloudera's Distribution including Apache Hadoop (CDH).

In a statement Cloudera CEO Mike Olson said, "There's a lot of talk in the industry about making Apache Hadoop deployments easier, but Cloudera's approach encompasses the entire lifespan of systems, not just the initial setup. Over time workloads shift, teams change and the types of questions you want to ask change and you should be able to manage your systems up and down depending on how you want to use your resources. Cloudera helps enterprises plan for the inevitable changes; we help you get started, then operate and grow or sunset pieces of the cluster over time. This is a steady-state long-term ongoing platform, and with the release of Cloudera Enterprise 3.5 we are not only introducing enterprise-level security to Hadoop, but we're making it easier for enterprises to manage the relative importance of resources over time."

Cloudera claims 100 paying customers largely in the Fortune 500. It believes its future is in the Global 2000.

See www.cloudera.com/downloadswww.cloudera.com/downloads to download SCM Express.

• Dell and Cloudera Create Joint Solution for Apache Hadoop