Sentry Hadoop

Sentry is an open-source authorization and access control framework that is commonly used in conjunction with Hadoop and its ecosystem components. Sentry provides fine-grained access control for data stored in Hadoop, allowing administrators to define and manage access policies for users and applications. Here are the key aspects of Sentry in the context of Hadoop:

1. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):

   • Sentry enables role-based access control, allowing administrators to define roles and assign permissions to those roles. Users and applications can then be associated with specific roles, simplifying access management.

2. Fine-Grained Access Control:

   • Sentry provides fine-grained control over data access. You can specify permissions at the database, table, column, and even row level, allowing for precise control of who can access what data.

3. Integration with Hadoop Ecosystem:

   • Sentry integrates with various components of the Hadoop ecosystem, including HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System), Hive (for SQL-based data querying), Impala (for real-time query processing), and others. This integration ensures that access control policies are enforced consistently across the Hadoop stack.

4. SQL Authorization:

   • In the case of Hive and Impala, Sentry can enforce SQL-based authorization policies. Users and roles can be granted or denied access to specific tables or columns in Hive, and Sentry ensures that these policies are enforced during query execution.

5. Centralized Policy Management:

   • Sentry provides a centralized management system for defining and managing access control policies. This makes it easier for administrators to maintain and audit authorization rules across a Hadoop cluster.

6. Auditing and Logging:

   • Sentry includes auditing and logging features that allow administrators to monitor access to data and track changes to access control policies. Auditing is essential for compliance and security purposes.

7. Kerberos Integration:

   • Sentry can be integrated with Kerberos authentication to provide a secure and robust authentication and authorization framework for Hadoop clusters.

8. Custom Plug-Ins:

   • Sentry is extensible and supports custom plug-ins, which can be used to integrate with other authentication and authorization systems or to enforce specific access control requirements.

9. Multi-Tenant Environments:

   • Sentry is suitable for multi-tenant Hadoop environments, where multiple users or organizations share the same cluster but need isolated access to their data. It ensures that one tenant cannot access or modify the data of another tenant.

10. Data Lake Security:

    • In data lake architectures, Sentry plays a critical role in securing and controlling access to data lakes where diverse data sources are stored.

11. Data Governance and Compliance:

    • Sentry helps organizations meet data governance and compliance requirements by providing the means to control and audit data access, which is essential for regulatory compliance.