Apache HBase
Apache HBase is an open-source, distributed, scalable, NoSQL database built on top of the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). It is designed to provide real-time read/write access to large datasets, storing data in a column-oriented format with strong consistency guarantees. HBase is modeled after Google's Bigtable and is part of the Apache Hadoop ecosystem, often used for big data applications requiring low-latency operations.
Developers should learn and use Apache HBase when building applications that need to handle massive volumes of sparse data with high throughput and low-latency access, such as real-time analytics, time-series data, or messaging systems. It is particularly useful in scenarios where traditional relational databases struggle with scalability, such as in IoT, social media, or financial services, where data is frequently written and queried in a distributed environment.