What is ApsaraDB for Cassandra

Reason 1: Built for internet services

For services that require transactions, we recommend that you use MySQL or Alibaba Cloud PolarDB. Their transactional features and SQL capabilities ensure that systems such as Business Operation Support System (BOSS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) function correctly. However, Internet services are characterized by high availability, high concurrency, high storage, tunable consistency, and flexibility. For these use cases, MySQL is not the best choice, and Cassandra was created to address these requirements.

• High availability: The architecture is designed to prevent a single node failure from affecting your service. Note: This requires redundant nodes, data replicas, and a QUORUM consistency level for read and write operations.

• High scalability: Supports scaling from 160 GB to 10 PB of storage capacity and from thousands to tens of millions of queries per second (QPS). It also supports scaling from a single node to multiple nodes and from a single data center to multiple data centers.

• Tunable consistency: You can configure a QUORUM consistency level for read and write operations to meet strong consistency and high availability requirements. For services such as the Internet of Things (IoT), you can lower the consistency level to achieve higher performance and lower costs based on your business needs.

If you have business scenarios such as chat messages, news push, order history, Object Storage Service, shopping carts, billing systems, and comments, or data-driven applications such as risk control, recommendations, user personas, the Internet of Things (IoT), and log analysis, consider using the Cassandra database.

Reason 2: Easy for developers and DBAs to learn

A developer familiar with MySQL can learn how to use Cassandra in half a day. A Database Administrator (DBA) familiar with MySQL can master Cassandra in one day. Cassandra is easy to use and maintain for the following reasons:

• CQL uses a syntax similar to SQL. This makes it easy for developers who are familiar with MySQL and other traditional databases.

• It supports a comprehensive security system, including authentication and SSL, which simplifies management for DBAs.

• It supports a full range of indexing services, such as local indexes, materialized views (MV), and Storage-Attached Indexing (SASI) for full-text search. This simplifies development.

• It provides native clients for various languages, such as Java, Python, PHP, .Net, and Node.js. These native clients connect to Cassandra directly, bypassing Thrift mode, and deliver performance comparable to the Java client.

Reason 3: A powerful tool for big data storage that integrates with X-Pack Spark

Spark is a leading engine for big data processing, and Cassandra is a leading NoSQL database for big data storage. The combination of Cassandra and Spark can handle many data-driven services, such as risk control, recommendation engines, and IoT. The Alibaba Cloud database team also provides an X-Pack Spark engine that supports Cassandra to address these user requirements.

Reason 4: 24/7 stability and security

ApsaraDB for Cassandra is a cloud service built by the Alibaba Cloud database team. It supports enterprise-level disaster recovery features, such as intra-city multi-data center deployment, and backup and recovery. The Alibaba Cloud ApsaraDB for Cassandra team works 24/7 to ensure the stability and security of your database. The team continuously improves performance and adds features to support your business.