What is Presto?

Presto is an open-source, distributed SQL query engine designed for fast, interactive analytics on large data sets. It lets you run a single query across many different data sources without moving the data first.

Let's break it down

  • Open-source: Free to use and anyone can see or change the code.
  • Distributed: Runs on many computers at the same time, sharing the work.
  • SQL query engine: Understands the SQL language you use to ask questions of data.
  • Fast, interactive analytics: Gives results quickly enough for you to explore data on the fly.
  • Large data sets / big data: Works with huge amounts of information that don’t fit on one machine.
  • Multiple data sources: Can read from databases, data lakes, object storage, etc., all in one query.

Why does it matter?

Because it lets businesses get answers from massive, scattered data in seconds instead of hours, saving time, money, and the hassle of copying data into a single warehouse.

Where is it used?

  • Netflix uses Presto to analyze streaming logs and recommendation data across S3 and MySQL.
  • Uber runs Presto to query trip, driver, and pricing data stored in Hadoop and PostgreSQL for real-time dashboards.
  • Airbnb employs Presto to combine reservation, pricing, and review data from multiple warehouses for reporting.
  • Shopify leverages Presto to let merchants explore sales and inventory data across Redshift and Google Cloud Storage.

Good things about it

  • Very high query performance, especially for ad-hoc analysis.
  • Works with many connectors, so you can query data wherever it lives.
  • Uses standard SQL, so existing analysts need little new learning.
  • Scales out easily by adding more worker nodes.
  • No need to move or duplicate data before querying.

Not-so-good things

  • Requires operational expertise to set up, monitor, and tune a cluster.
  • Consumes a lot of memory; under-provisioned clusters can become slow or fail.
  • Not designed for transactional (OLTP) workloads; it’s best for analytics only.
  • Some advanced SQL features (e.g., stored procedures) are not supported.