Microsoft has launched its new Apache Storm service as part of HDInsight. In addition, Microsoft also has its own Stream Analytics service that you can use for similar purposes, e.g. processing incoming unstructured data in real time for analytics purposes.
Which service should you use for your real time analytics processing? Here is a high level comparison between the two services based on the current incarnations of the service (they are expected to evolve over the coming months).
| HD Insight Apache Storm | Stream Analytics | |
| Service Status | General Availability | Preview Only |
| Deployment Model | PAAS | PAAS |
| Pricing Model | Priced per node instance | Priced per volume and “streaming units” |
| Product Ownership | Open Source Apache | Microsoft |
| Language Support | Java, C#, Python | SQL language specific to Stream Analytics service |
| REST API | Available but only for monitoring and management | Available for development |
| Maintenance | Patching and maintenance included | Patching and maintenance included |
| Interoperability | Azure Event Hub, Azure Service Bus, Apache Kafka, Apache Cassandra, HDFS, SQL Azure Database | Event Hub, Azure Blob Storage and Azure SQL Database |
