One example of a program that could work on CDH4 is the , a bulk synchronous parallel computing framework that can be used for scientific calculations. Hama "can work on the same data as MapReduce. It can borrow the same CPU and memory that the MapReduce jobs use," Zedlewski said.

CDH4 comes with a number of other features as well, all of them adapted from the latest versions of the open-source components that make up the Hadoop platform, such as the HDFS file system and the HBase database system.

The new distribution tackles one of Hadoop's fundamental weaknesses, namely the file system's reliance on a single namenode to direct all traffic. A namenode keeps track of where all the data in a Hadoop cluster resides. Having only one namenode for a cluster is considered a weakness. Should that namenode stop working correctly, the entire system will be unusable. This version of CDH beats that problem by including the ability to set up a backup namenode that would automatically spring into use should the primary namenode fail.

CDH4 provides the ability to run different versions of Hadoop in a single system. This should ease the process of upgrading to a new version of Hadoop. Every node does not need to be updated at the same time. CDH4 also comes with a number of security updates. For instance, HBase now can permit access to tables and columns based on designated users and groups. This helps secure sensitive information and also permits service providers to run Hadoop for multiple clients.

The company's management software for CDH4, called Cloudera Manager, has been updated as well. The new edition, version 4, can be used to manage multiple clusters. An administrator can set up different clusters for testing and production, or offer separate clusters of different users in an enterprise. The software includes new visualization tools that use heat maps to provide a visual clue of where trouble spots may reside. This version is the first to have an API (application programming interface), so all functionality can be accessed from other programs, such as IBM's Tivoli integrated service management software.