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Apache Drill

ANALYTICS
Velocity0.0

Schema-free SQL query engine for Hadoop, NoSQL and cloud storage

drill.apache.org ↗

A SQL-on-anything engine shipping rarely, but each release widens what it can reach

sql-federationstorage-pluginsapachejava-modernizationiceberg
◆Current state
Drill releases roughly once a year, and the feed reflects an ASF project where minor versions are the events and patch releases carry no description beyond a pointer to release notes. The 1.22.0 release resets the platform floor to Java 11/17/21 and drops the Hadoop 2 distribution entirely. Underneath, the long-running theme is storage and format plugin breadth — HTTP, Splunk, XML, File — plus a steady stream of third-party library upgrades closing vulnerabilities.
◆Where it's heading
Drill is consolidating around being a federated query layer rather than a Hadoop-ecosystem component. Eliminating the forked Calcite, adding INSERT support, and shipping a Drill-on-Drill storage plugin moved it from read-only explorer toward a queryable and writable federation tier; dropping Hadoop 2 finishes severing the original deployment assumption. Plugin count keeps growing faster than engine internals change.
◆Prediction
The next release will likely continue the pattern of plugin additions plus dependency-driven security upgrades, with the modern-Java baseline now letting the project adopt libraries it previously had to hold back.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1y ago

    1.22.0 drops Hadoop 2 and moves to Java 11/17/21

    Resets the supported platform: Java 11, 17 and 21 only, with the Hadoop 2 distribution removed from releases though still buildable from source. Paired with library upgrades resolving third-party vulnerabilities and enhancements across the File, HTTP, Splunk and XML plugins.

    View source ↗
  2. 1y ago

    Apache Drill 1.21.2

    A patch release in the 1.21.x series whose changelog is a pointer to external release notes. No described user-facing change.

    View source ↗
  3. 2y ago

    1.20.0 adds Iceberg and Phoenix plugins plus JDBC write support

    A broad reach expansion: Apache Iceberg format plugin, Phoenix storage plugin with impersonation, MongoDB pushdown, persistent table and storage aliases, and write support in the JDBC plugin. Fits the arc of Drill widening what it can query rather than deepening the engine.

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  4. 2y ago

    1.21.0 un-forks Calcite, adds INSERT and Drill-on-Drill federation

    ⚡ SPARK

    The release that changes what Drill is for: eliminating the Calcite fork to jump from 1.21 to 1.33, adding INSERT support, and shipping a native Drill storage plugin for federated Drill-on-Drill deployments. Everything after it — the plugin breadth of 1.20, the platform reset of 1.22 — builds on this foundation.

    View source ↗
  5. 2y ago

    Apache Drill 1.21.1

    Patch release in the 1.21.x series documented only by a link to release notes. Nothing user-visible described.

    View source ↗
  6. 3y ago

    Apache Drill 1.20.3

    Patch release in the 1.20.x series with no described changes beyond a release-notes pointer.

    View source ↗