Cloudera Navigator 2 Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cloudera Navigator a module of Cloudera Manager?

Cloudera Navigator and Cloudera Manager complement each other. Cloudera Manager helps you manage services and Cloudera Navigator helps you manage the data stored in those services. Cloudera Navigator provides the following components:
  • Data Management - Provides visibility into and control over the data in Hadoop datastores, and the computations performed on that data. Hadoop administrators, data stewards, and data scientists can use Cloudera Navigator to:
    • Get an "at-a-glance" overview of cluster activity - Use the Data Stewardship dashboard to get a high-level view of the state of the data and data usage on the cluster. The dashboard displays information about table, file, and database activity, table and file creation and modification trends, operations, and other information captured by the Navigator Metadata Server.
    • Audit data access and verify access privileges - The goal of auditing is to capture a complete and immutable record of all activity within a system. Cloudera Navigator auditing adds secure, real-time audit components to key data and access frameworks. Compliance groups can use Cloudera Navigator to configure, collect, and view audit events that show who accessed data, and how.
    • Search metadata and visualize lineage - Cloudera Navigator metadata management allows DBAs, data stewards, business analysts, and data scientists to define, search for, amend the properties of, and tag data entities and view relationships between datasets.
    • Policies - Data stewards can use Cloudera Navigator policies to define automated actions, based on data access or on a schedule, to add metadata, create alerts, and move or purge data.
    • Analytics - Hadoop administrators can use Cloudera Navigator analytics to examine data usage patterns and create policies based on those patterns.
  • Data Encryption - Data encryption and key management provide a critical layer of protection against potential threats by malicious actors on the network or in the datacenter. Encryption and key management are also requirements for meeting key compliance initiatives and ensuring the integrity of your enterprise data. The following Cloudera Navigator components enable compliance groups to manage encryption:
    • Cloudera Navigator Encrypt transparently encrypts and secures data at rest without requiring changes to your applications and ensures there is minimal performance lag in the encryption or decryption process.
    • Cloudera Navigator Key Trustee Server is an enterprise-grade virtual safe-deposit box that stores and manages cryptographic keys and other security artifacts.
    • Cloudera Navigator Key HSM allows Cloudera Navigator Key Trustee Server to seamlessly integrate with a hardware security module (HSM).

The Cloudera Navigator data management component is implemented as two roles in the Cloudera Management Service: Navigator Audit Server and Navigator Metadata Server. You can add Cloudera Navigator data management roles while installing Cloudera Manager for the first time or into an existing Cloudera Manager installation. For information on compatible Cloudera Navigator and Cloudera Manager versions, see the Product Compatibility Matrix for Cloudera Navigator product compatibility matrix.

Is Cloudera Navigator included with a Cloudera Enterprise Enterprise Data Hub Edition license?

Yes. Cloudera Navigator is included with a Cloudera Enterprise Enterprise Data Hub Edition license and can be selected as a choice with a Cloudera Enterprise Flex Edition license.

Can Cloudera Navigator be purchased standalone—that is, without Cloudera Manager?

Cloudera Navigator components are managed by Cloudera Manager. Therefore, Cloudera Manager is a prerequisite for Cloudera Navigator.

What Cloudera Manager, CDH, and Impala releases does Cloudera Navigator 2 work with?

See Product Compatibility Matrix for Cloudera Navigator.

Is Cloudera Navigator open source or closed source?

Cloudera Navigator is a closed-source management tool and part of the Cloudera suite of management capabilities for Hadoop.

How are Cloudera Navigator logs different from Cloudera Manager logs?

Cloudera Navigator tracks and aggregates only the accesses to the data stored in CDH services and used for audit reports and analysis. Cloudera Manager monitors and logs all the activity performed by CDH services that helps administrators maintain the health of the cluster. Together these logs provide better visibility into both the data access and system activity for an enterprise cluster.