Final answer:
The preferred replacement for Apache Flume is Apache NiFi, which provides robust data flow management and features like data provenance, visual management, and system monitoring, making it suitable for various data ingestion tasks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The preferred replacement for Apache Flume is Apache NiFi. Apache NiFi, also known as Hortonworks Data Flow (HDF) when it was part of the Hortonworks suite, is an integrated data logistics platform for automating the movement of data between disparate systems.
It provides a web-based user interface for designing, controlling, and monitoring data flows. NiFi was built to automate the flow of data and address various data ingestion challenges. It offers features such as data provenance, visual management, and system monitoring. It's more modern and has a more flexible architecture compared to Flume, making it suitable for a wider range of data flow scenarios.
While Apache Storm is known for processing data streams, it isn’t typically considered a direct replacement for Flume, as it focuses more on complex event processing and streaming analytics. Similarly, Druid is a high-performance real-time analytics database and isn’t a data flow management tool. Therefore, for data pipelining tasks that require a robust and user-friendly interface, NiFi stands out as the choice succeeding Flume.