Starburst Galaxy

I have mainly used Starburst Galaxy as a query and access layer for analytical data, as my current work involves dealing with data stored across different platforms, including Hive and SingleStore. Starburst gives us a more convenient way to query that data and expose it to reporting tools such as Power BI, so it is more for accessing and querying data used for analytics and reporting. One of the main use cases I utilize is working with historical data stored in Hive and making that data available for reporting and monitoring purposes. We also use it as part of a data access layer between the underlying platforms and Power BI.

The main benefit of using Starburst Galaxy as a data access layer between my storage platforms and Power BI is easier access to the data for analytics and reporting. It also helps create a more consistent access layer, particularly when working with historical data sets, instead of building separate connections and logic for every source.

I would recommend Starburst Galaxy, particularly for organizations that already have data distributed across different platforms and want or need a common SQL layer for analytics. It makes the most sense when there is a real need to query data where it already lives instead of moving everything into one system. I mainly use this for an analytics and reporting perspective and would probably give it an eight out of ten. It works well for analytical use cases, at least the ones I have been involved with, and makes access to distributed data easier. There is still room for improved usability and diagnostics, especially for users who are not platform specialists. I am mainly a data consumer rather than a Starburst Galaxy administrator, so my experience is focused on querying, reporting, performance, and usability.

One of the best features of Starburst Galaxy is that it can sit between different data sources and the reporting layer. This separation is useful because the reporting tool does not necessarily need to know all the complexity of where the data is physically stored. I think it helps create a more consistent access layer, particularly when working with historical data sets, instead of building separate connections and logic for every point of access.

The main time-saving for me is having a common SQL access layer to the data. Instead of working directly with the different underlying systems, I can query what I need directly through Starburst Galaxy. In my case, this is particularly useful for reporting. For example, when building Power BI dashboards on top of historical data in Hive, Starburst Galaxy makes that data much easier to access and consume. Overall, it reduces the amount of work needed to get the data into a usable form and lets me spend more time on actual analysis and reporting. A good example is for historical reporting with data stored in Hive—rather than building a complete separate reporting process around that storage, we can access it through Starburst Galaxy for Power BI reporting. This simplifies the architecture from my perspective as an analyst and saves time when accessing and analyzing historical data. I have not measured the time saving precisely, but it definitely reduces the manual effort and complexity involved in accessing data from these different sources.

The main positive impact Starburst Galaxy has made is making data more accessible for analytics and reporting. We have data across different platforms, including historical data in Hive, and Starburst Galaxy provides a common layer to access that information, making it easier to build reporting solutions without creating completely separate data access processes for every source. From an organizational perspective, that means less complexity, faster access to information, and better use of the data we already possess. In my use case, it also helps teams focus more on analysis and monitoring rather than on how to retrieve the data itself. The biggest impact is really easier access to the data.

One area that I think could be improved is the experience when performance issues occur. When a query is slow, it is not always immediately obvious to me whether the bottleneck comes from Starburst Galaxy itself, the underlying data source, the query design, or the reporting tool. Better visibility into query performance and easier diagnostics for non-administrators would be useful.

Another potential improvement would be enhancing the experience with BI tools to make it more seamless. I work a lot with Power BI, and when you are working with larger data sets, performance can sometimes depend on several different layers. Having more visibility into what is happening between the BI tool, Starburst Galaxy, and the underlying source would be helpful. I also think onboarding could be a little more accessible for analysts. There is good technical documentation, but sometimes I just need to understand the best way to approach a common use case without diving too deep into the platform architecture. The main improvement would be troubleshooting.

I have not used the AI capabilities extensively, so I cannot give a detailed assessment. I am not sure if my organization has the full capabilities of Starburst Galaxy, but I think adding AI on top of the data layer is interesting, especially if it can help users discover data, understand data sets, and interact with them more naturally.

For governance and security, one of the strengths of Starburst Galaxy is that you can centralize access to data while still controlling what different users are allowed to see. Role-based access, fine-grained permissions, and data masking are important because giving people easier access to data should not mean giving everyone access to everything. I think that is even more important than any AI capabilities that are introduced. If you do introduce AI, I think it should respect exactly the same data permissions and governance rules as the user that is accessing the data.

I have been using Starburst Galaxy for the past one and a half to two years.

Starburst Galaxy has been stable so far.

My experience with Starburst Galaxy's scalability has been good. We work with large volumes of data, particularly historical data sets in Hive, and it allows us to query that data without moving everything into a separate system first. This is one of the advantages—as the amount of data grows, we can continue accessing it through the same SQL layer. I do not manage infrastructure directly, so I cannot comment on the technical scaling configuration, but from a user's perspective, it has handled our analytical and reporting use cases well.

We previously used SingleStore before switching to Starburst Galaxy because we needed access to different data layers in different sources. That need led us to change to Starburst Galaxy directly, to have a unified central layer that can connect to all external data sources.

I do not have a specific percentage or cost-saving figure that I can confidently attribute to Starburst Galaxy alone. The impact I can see directly is more operational. For example, we have been able to use historical data stored in Hive for Power BI reporting through a common SQL access layer rather than creating separate extraction processes for each use case. The measurable outcome from my perspective includes reduced complexity in data access and less manual work for me, making historical data available for reporting with faster deliveries when dealing with monitoring and analytical use cases. From my day-to-day experience, it clearly reduces the number of steps required to access and consume data for reporting.

I cannot share whether other options were evaluated because I was not the one who decided that.

My advice would be to first be very clear about the use case. Starburst Galaxy makes a lot of sense if you have data distributed across different systems and want a common SQL layer without constantly moving or duplicating it. I would recommend starting with a clear use case rather than just implementing the technology. If you have data in different platforms and want access through a common SQL layer, then Starburst Galaxy can be very useful. I would give this product an eight out of ten.