Azure Data Explorer vs ClickHouse
A detailed comparison
Compare Azure Data Explorer and ClickHouse for time series and OLAP workloads
Learn About Time Series DatabasesChoosing the right database is a critical choice when building any software application. All databases have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to performance, so deciding which database has the most benefits and the most minor downsides for your specific use case and data model is an important decision. Below you will find an overview of the key concepts, architecture, features, use cases, and pricing models of Azure Data Explorer and ClickHouse so you can quickly see how they compare against each other.
The primary purpose of this article is to compare how Azure Data Explorer and ClickHouse perform for workloads involving time series data, not for all possible use cases. Time series data typically presents a unique challenge in terms of database performance. This is due to the high volume of data being written and the query patterns to access that data. This article doesn’t intend to make the case for which database is better; it simply provides an overview of each database so you can make an informed decision.
Azure Data Explorer vs ClickHouse Breakdown
 |
 |
|
| Database Model | Columnar database |
Columnar database |
| Architecture | ADX can be deployed in the Azure cloud as a managed service and is easily integrated with other Azure services and tools for seamless data processing and analytics. |
ClickHouse can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or as a managed service. |
| License | Closed source |
Apache 2.0 |
| Use Cases | Log and telemetry data analysis, real-time analytics, security and compliance analysis, IoT data processing |
Real-time analytics, big data processing, event logging, monitoring, IoT, data warehousing |
| Scalability | Highly scalable with support for horizontal scaling, sharding, and partitioning |
Horizontally scalable, supports distributed query processing and parallel execution |
Looking for the most efficient way to get started?
Whether you are looking for cost savings, lower management overhead, or open source, InfluxDB can help.
Azure Data Explorer Overview
Azure Data Explorer is a cloud-based, fully managed, big data analytics platform offered as part of the Microsoft Azure platform. It was announced by Microsoft in 2018 and is available as a PaaS offering. Azure Data Explorer provides high-performance capabilities for ingesting and querying telemetry, logs, and time series data.
ClickHouse Overview
ClickHouse is an open source columnar database management system designed for high-performance online analytical processing (OLAP) tasks. It was developed by Yandex, a leading Russian technology company. ClickHouse is known for its ability to process large volumes of data in real-time, providing fast query performance and real-time analytics. Its columnar storage architecture enables efficient data compression and faster query execution, making it suitable for large-scale data analytics and business intelligence applications.
Azure Data Explorer for Time Series Data
Azure Data Explorer is well-suited for handling time series data. Its high-performance capabilities and ability to ingest large volumes of data make it suitable for analyzing and querying time series data in near real-time. With its advanced query operators, such as calculated columns, searching and filtering on rows, group by-aggregates, and joins, Azure Data Explorer enables efficient analysis of time series data. Its scalable architecture and distributed nature ensure that it can handle the velocity and volume requirements of time series data effectively.
ClickHouse for Time Series Data
ClickHouse can be used for storing and analyzing time series data effectively, although it is not explicitly optimized for working with time series data. While ClickHouse can query time series data very quickly once ingested, it tends to struggle with very high write scenarios where data needs to be ingested in smaller batches so it can be analyzed in real time.
Azure Data Explorer Key Concepts
- Relational Data Model: Azure Data Explorer is a distributed database based on relational database management systems. It supports entities such as databases, tables, functions, and columns. Unlike traditional RDBMS, Azure Data Explorer does not enforce constraints like key uniqueness, primary keys, or foreign keys. Instead, the necessary relationships are established at query time.
- Kusto Query Language (KQL): Azure Data Explorer uses KQL, a powerful and expressive query language, to enable users to explore and analyze their data with ease.
- Extents: In Azure Data Explorer, data is organized into units called extents, which are immutable, compressed sets of records that can be efficiently stored and queried.
ClickHouse Key Concepts
- Columnar storage: ClickHouse stores data in a columnar format, which means that data for each column is stored separately. This enables efficient compression and faster query execution, as only the required columns are read during query execution.
- Distributed processing: ClickHouse supports distributed processing, allowing queries to be executed across multiple nodes in a cluster, improving query performance and scalability.
- Data replication: ClickHouse provides data replication, ensuring data availability and fault tolerance in case of hardware failures or node outages.
- Materialized Views: ClickHouse supports materialized views, which are precomputed query results stored as tables. Materialized views can significantly improve query performance, as they allow for faster data retrieval by avoiding the need to recompute the results for each query.
Azure Data Explorer Architecture
Azure Data Explorer is built on a cloud-native, distributed architecture that supports both NoSQL and SQL-like querying capabilities. It is a columnar storage-based database that leverages compressed, immutable data extents for efficient storage and retrieval. The core components of Azure Data Explorer’s architecture include the Control Plane, Data Management, and Query Processing. The Control Plane is responsible for managing resources and metadata, while the Data Management component handles data ingestion and organization. Query Processing is responsible for executing queries and returning results to users.
ClickHouse Architecture
ClickHouse’s architecture is designed to support high-performance analytics on large datasets. ClickHouse stores data in a columnar format. This enables efficient data compression and faster query execution, as only the required columns are read during query execution. ClickHouse also supports distributed processing, which allows for queries to be executed across multiple nodes in a cluster. ClickHouse uses the MergeTree storage engine as its primary table engine. MergeTree is designed for high-performance OLAP tasks and supports data replication, data partitioning, and indexing.
Free Time-Series Database Guide
Get a comprehensive review of alternatives and critical requirements for selecting yours.
Azure Data Explorer Features
High-performance data ingestion
Azure Data Explorer can ingest data at a rate of 200 MB per second per node, offering fast and efficient data ingestion capabilities.
Data visualization
Azure Data Explorer integrates seamlessly with popular data visualization tools like Power BI, Grafana, and Jupyter Notebooks, allowing users to easily visualize and analyze their data.
Advanced analytics
The Kusto Query Language (KQL) supports advanced analytics features such as time series analysis, pattern recognition, and anomaly detection, enabling users to gain deeper insights from their data.
Flexible schema
Unlike traditional relational databases, Azure Data Explorer does not enforce constraints like key uniqueness, primary keys, or foreign keys. This flexibility allows for dynamic schema changes and the ability to handle semi-structured and unstructured data.
ClickHouse Features
Real-time analytics
ClickHouse is designed for real-time analytics and can process large volumes of data with low latency, providing fast query performance and real-time insights.
Data compression
ClickHouse’s columnar storage format enables efficient data compression, reducing storage requirements and improving query performance.
Materialized views
ClickHouse supports materialized views, which can significantly improve query performance by precomputing and storing query results as tables.
Azure Data Explorer Use Cases
Log analytics
Azure Data Explorer is commonly used for log analytics, where it can ingest, store, and analyze large volumes of log data generated by applications, servers, and infrastructure. Organizations can use Azure Data Explorer to monitor application performance, troubleshoot issues, detect anomalies, and gain insights into user behavior. The ability to analyze log data in near real-time enables proactive issue resolution and improved operational efficiency.
Telemetry analytics
Azure Data Explorer is well-suited for telemetry analytics, where it can process and analyze data generated by IoT devices, sensors, and applications. Organizations can use Azure Data Explorer to monitor device health, optimize resource utilization, and detect anomalies in telemetry data. The platform’s scalability and high-performance capabilities make it ideal for handling the large volumes of data generated by IoT devices.
Time series analysis
Azure Data Explorer is used for time series analysis, where it can ingest and analyze time-stamped data points collected over time. This use case is applicable in various industries, including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy. Organizations can use Azure Data Explorer to analyze trends, detect patterns, and forecast future events based on historical time series data. The platform’s advanced query operators and real-time analysis capabilities enable organizations to derive valuable insights from time series data.
ClickHouse Use Cases
Large-scale data analytics
ClickHouse’s high-performance query engine and columnar storage format make it suitable for large-scale data analytics and business intelligence applications.
Real-time reporting
ClickHouse’s real-time analytics capabilities enable organizations to generate real-time reports and dashboards, providing up-to-date insights for decision-making.
Log and event data analysis
ClickHouse’s ability to process large volumes of data in real-time makes it a suitable choice for log and event data analysis, such as analyzing web server logs or application events.
Azure Data Explorer Pricing Model
Azure Data Explorer’s pricing model is based on a pay-as-you-go approach, where customers are billed based on their usage of the service. The pricing is determined by factors such as the amount of data ingested, the amount of data stored, and the number of queries executed. Additionally, customers can choose between different pricing tiers that offer varying levels of performance and features. Azure Data Explorer also provides options for reserved capacity, which allows customers to reserve resources for a fixed period of time at a discounted rate.
ClickHouse Pricing Model
ClickHouse is an open source database and can be deployed on your own hardware. The developers of ClickHouse have also recently created ClickHouse Cloud which is a managed service for deploying ClickHouse.
Get started with InfluxDB for free
InfluxDB Cloud is the fastest way to start storing and analyzing your time series data.
