Consider if the HBase project starts releasing new "convenience binaries", in addition to the existing ones, in which we bundle a recent/vetted/stable version of Phoenix, with the site file changes for loading their coprocessors already patched in (to hbase-default.xml) For now this would be done for 0.98 only, since that's the only release line supported by an actively developed Phoenix version. We could also do this for 0.94 releases with Phoenix 3 if the 0.94 RM wants, but I doubt there would be any demand for this, Phoenix 3 is inactive because that community has all moved to 4, I'd imagine that carries over here.
Advantages: - HBase would ship with a SQL access option. There's the Phoenix JDBC driver of course, and we'd also bundle the psql and sqlline exec wrappers from the Phoenix binary distribution. We'd have both the jruby shell and a SQL shell, this is a powerful combination. - HBase ships with a library that assists users in making efficient queries if their data is typed, but this doesn't include the server side optimizations that the Phoenix coprocessors provide, and in that case no hand rolling is necessary. - HBase would ship with secondary indexes. These would not cover all possible use cases and requirements, let's stipulate that now and hope this doesn't kick off another circular discussion on that front. Unquestionably this is a compelling Phoenix feature so some use cases obviously can benefit, and if users find the combined distribution useful enough we don't have to discuss secondary indexes in HBase core again. - We will have done the necessary integration work for the combined result to be easy to use. Apache software cat herders will appreciate this. - It's totally optional, simply ignore the new binary packages if you don't care. This is not a Grand Unification proposal. Concerns: - More work for the RM. Unquestionably. - Concerns about the quality of the combined convenience artifact: Is there an implied warranty? Could we disclaim? Should we disclaim? If not, how does HBase do QA on this. Related to the above concern about RM bandwidth. Maybe Phoenix could help. - Increased coupling between the projects. Frankly, I think this already there, we just don't see it until we trip over issues that could have been avoided with more communication between projects. Pushing on Phoenix for bits for a monthly HBase release cadence will surface issues faster and improve communication between the projects. This benefits Phoenix with more QA bandwidth. This benefits HBase because we see Phoenix bringing in a significant number of users. - We may want to revisit again normalizing type support in HBase's client library and Phoenix, eventually. I could add more items to the advantage or concern lists but mainly want to float the idea for feedback at this time. Thoughts? -- Best regards, - Andy Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by hitting back. - Piet Hein (via Tom White)
