When dealing with big data, traditional databases don't cut it. It's best to use the right tool for the job. HBase is a NoSQL storage system designed from the ground up for fast, random access to large volumes of data. Built on Hadoop, it runs on commodity hardware and scales from modest datasets up to millions of columns and billions of rows. HBase in Action provides all the knowledge needed to design, build, and run applications using HBase. First, it introduces the fundamentals of distributed systems and large scale data handling. Then, it explores real-world applications and code samples with just enough theory to explain practical techniques. It shows readers how to build applications with HBase and take advantage of the MapReduce processing framework as they learn patterns and best practices. ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY HBase is an open-source, column-oriented database management system written in Java. It runs on top of the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and is fast enough to directly power websites and integrates tightly with the MapReduce processing framework, a programming model for processing large data sets. HBase has become the data backbone for production deployments worldwide in companies like StumbleUpon, Facebook, and Twitter.