title: What are the pros and cons of using the Hadoop NameNode, Checkpoint Node and Backup Node?
body: <p>I'm currently evaluating Hadoop 1.0.2 for an in-house project.</p>
  
  <p>The Hadoop docs say that </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p><a href="http://hadoop.apache.org/common/docs/current/hdfs_user_guide.html#Secondary+NameNode" rel="nofollow">The Secondary NameNode has been deprecated. Instead, consider using the Checkpoint Node or Backup Node</a></p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>There is information on what the three options <em>are</em> and what they <em>do</em>, but I'm having trouble finding information on which of the three options is <em>recommended</em> in which situations. </p>