Apache Cassandra

Definition

Apache Cassandra is an open-source, distributed NoSQL database designed to handle large amounts of data across many commodity servers, providing high availability with no single point of failure. It is built to scale horizontally and manage high-velocity data with ease, making it ideal for applications that require fast data access and fault tolerance.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Cassandra was originally developed at Facebook to power their Inbox Search feature and was later released as an open-source project in 2008.
2. It uses a peer-to-peer architecture, meaning each node in a Cassandra cluster has the same role, ensuring no single point of failure.
3. Cassandra supports tunable consistency, allowing developers to balance between consistency and availability according to their application needs.
4. It can handle huge amounts of data across multiple data centers and provides automatic data replication to enhance fault tolerance.
5. The database employs a structure called a wide-column store, which allows for flexible data modeling and efficient storage of sparse data.

Review Questions

• How does the peer-to-peer architecture of Apache Cassandra contribute to its fault tolerance?
  • The peer-to-peer architecture means every node in a Cassandra cluster can accept read and write requests, eliminating single points of failure. This design allows for automatic load balancing and ensures that if one node fails, the system continues operating seamlessly. As all nodes are equal, the overall resilience of the system increases, making it highly fault-tolerant compared to traditional master-slave database architectures.
• Discuss the significance of tunable consistency in Apache Cassandra and its impact on application performance.
  • Tunable consistency in Apache Cassandra allows developers to define the level of consistency required for each operation, balancing between strong consistency and high availability. This means that for critical operations requiring up-to-date data, a higher consistency level can be set, while less critical operations can benefit from lower levels of consistency for faster response times. This flexibility enables applications to adapt to varying requirements based on real-time needs, enhancing performance without sacrificing data integrity.
• Evaluate the role of Apache Cassandra's wide-column store structure in handling large-scale data applications compared to traditional relational databases.
  • The wide-column store structure of Apache Cassandra allows for a more flexible schema design that accommodates large-scale data applications effectively. Unlike traditional relational databases which require predefined schemas, Cassandra's structure enables dynamic adjustments and efficient storage of sparse data. This adaptability is crucial when managing big data scenarios, where the volume and variety of incoming data can vary greatly. Additionally, it supports high write throughput and quick read access, making it suitable for real-time analytics applications that demand scalability and performance.

Related terms

NoSQL: A category of database systems that are designed to handle unstructured data and provide flexible schema design, allowing for horizontal scalability and high performance.

Distributed Database: A database that is spread across multiple physical locations, where the data can be stored on different servers or nodes, enhancing availability and reliability.

Replication:

The process of copying and maintaining database objects in multiple locations to ensure data availability and fault tolerance.