[ANNOUNCE] Apache HBase 2.0.0-alpha-2 is now available for download

[stack <st...@apache.org>]

The HBase team is happy to announce the immediate availability of Apache
HBase 2.0.0-alpha-2.

Apache HBase is an open-source, distributed, versioned, non-relational
database. Apache HBase gives you low latency random access to billions of
rows with millions of columns atop non-specialized hardware. To learn more
about HBase, see https://hbase.apache.org/.

HBase 2.0.0-alpha-2 is a rough cut ('alpha'), not-for-production, preview
of what
hbase-2.0.0 will look like. It is meant for devs and downstreamers to test
drive
and flag us early if we messed up anything ahead of our rolling GAs.

hbase-2.0.0-alpha-2 includes all that was in alpha-1 (new assignment
manager,
offheap read/write path, in-memory compactions, etc.) plus a return to
branch-1
deploy mode where master carries no regions (branch-2 and master up to this
had master carrying system tables), a purge of all checked-in generated
content,
updates to all dependencies including a move to rely on new
hbase-thirdparty lib
for relocated versions of guava, netty, and protobuf, etc.

The list of features addressed in 2.0.0 so far can be found here [4]. There
are
about 2700+. The list of ~500 fixes in 2.0.0 exclusively can be found here
[3].

I've updated our overview doc. on the state of 2.0.0 [1] but JIRA 2.0.0
label [2]
has undergone extensive weeding and presents a fairly good picture on what
is
yet to do before we 2.0.0. Check it out.

Please take it for a spin and let us know if there is anything you would
have us
change or anything you see missing by mailing dev@hbase.apache.org or by
filing issues at https://issues.apache.org/jira/projects/HBASE/summary

We are planning one more alpha release before we move to beta (alpha-3).
Now is the time to catch the egregious and flag the incompatibilities while
we have time to bend. Once we move to beta, APIs and feature-set will be
fixed.

Download through an ASF mirror near you:

 https://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.lua/hbase/2.0.0-alpha-2

Checksums can be found here:

 https://www.apache.org/dist/hbase/2.0.0-alpha-2/hbase-2.0.
0-alpha2-bin.tar.gz.md5
 https://www.apache.org/dist/hbase/2.0.0-alpha-2/hbase-2.0.
0-alpha2-src.tar.gz.md5

Project member signature keys can be found at

    https://www.apache.org/dist/hbase/KEYS

PGP signatures are here:

 https://www.apache.org/dist/hbase/2.0.0-alpha-2/hbase-2.0.
0-alpha2-src.tar.gz.asc
 https://www.apache.org/dist/hbase/2.0.0-alpha-2/hbase-2.0.
0-alpha2-bin.tar.gz.asc

For instructions on verifying ASF release downloads, please see

    https://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi#verify

Question, comments, and problems are always welcome at:
dev@hbase.apache.org.

Yours,
The HBase Dev Team

1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WCsVlnHjJeKUcl7wHwqb4
z9iEu_ktczrlKHK8N4SZzs/edit#
2. https://issues.apache.org/jira/projects/HBASE/versions/12327188
3.https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HBASE-18611?jql=proj
ect%20%3D%20HBASE%20%20and%20(fixVersion%20%3D%202.0.0%20%
7C%7C%20fixVersion%20%3D%202.0.0.alpha1%20%7C%7C%20fixVersi
on%20%3D%202.0.0-alpha-2)%20and%20fixVersion%20not%20in%
20(1.0.0%2C%201.0.1%2C%201.0.2%2C%201.0.3%2C%201.0.4%2C%
201.0.5%2C%201.0.6%2C%201.1.0%2C%201.1.1%2C%201.1.2%2C%201.
1.3%2C%201.1.4%2C%201.1.5%2C%201.1.6%2C%201.1.7%2C%201.1.8%
2C%201.1.9%2C%201.1.10%2C%201.2.0%2C%201.2.1%2C%201.2.2%2C%
201.2.3%2C%201.2.4%2C%201.2.5%2C%201.2.6%2C%201.3.0%2C%201.
3.1%2C%201.4.0)%20and%20%20(status%20%3D%20Open%20or%
20status%20%3D%20%22Patch%20Available%22)
4. https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HBASE-18599?jql=pro
ject%20%3D%20HBASE%20%20and%20(%20fixVersion%20%3D%202.0.
0%20%7C%7C%20fixVersion%20%3D%202.0.0-alpha-1%20%7C%7C%
20fixVersion%20%3D%202.0.0-alpha-2)%20and%20(status%20%3D%20Resolved)