ApsaraDB for Cassandra is a distributed NoSQL database that is developed based on open source Apache Cassandra and integrated with the Alibaba Cloud Database as a Service (DBaaS) features. ApsaraDB for Cassandra has been in development for over a decade and is based on the distributed architecture of Amazon DynamoDB and data model of Google Cloud Bigtable. ApsaraDB for Cassandra uses a distributed, decentralized, and multi-active architecture, and provides features such as auto scaling, high availability, fault tolerance, tunable consistency, and SQL-like Cassandra Query Language (CQL). ApsaraDB for Cassandra is developed to power services for Internet enterprises and their business. ApsaraDB for Cassandra is one of the most popular wide table databases. Alibaba Cloud globally launched ApsaraDB for Cassandra in August 2019.
ApsaraDB for Cassandra is preferable for the following reasons:
Reason 1: ApsaraDB for Cassandra is developed for the Internet business
If you have transaction-related services, we recommend that you use MySQL or Alibaba Cloud PolarDB. MySQL or PolarDB provides transaction and SQL features to ensure that your business operating software system (BOSS), customer relationship management (CRM) system, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system run as expected. However, for Internet business that requires high availability, high concurrency, massive storage, tunable consistency, and elasticity, we recommend that you use ApsaraDB for Cassandra rather than MySQL. ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides the following features:
High availability: Your business is not affected if a node fails. You must configure redundancies for nodes and data replicas and set the read/write consistency level to Quorum.
High scalability: ApsaraDB for Cassandra can provide storage from 160 GB to 10 PB and up to tens of millions of queries per second (QPS). You can add more nodes and data centers to your services as needed.
Tunable consistency: ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides high availability and strong consistency by setting the read/write consistency level to Quorum. You can configure low consistency for IoT services based on your business features to achieve higher performance at a lower cost.
We recommend that you use ApsaraDB for Cassandra for services such as online chatting and messaging, news feeds, historical orders, object storage, shopping carts, billing systems, and comments. The services also include data-driven services such as risk control, recommendation, user profiling, IoT, and log analysis.
Reason 2: ApsaraDB for Cassandra is easy to use for developers and DBAs
A MySQL developer or database administrator (DBA) can master the skills of ApsaraDB for Cassandra databases within a short period of time. ApsaraDB for Cassandra is easy to use and manage and provides the following benefits:
SQL-like CQL enables MySQL database developers and other traditional database developers to directly use ApsaraDB for Cassandra databases.
ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides a security authentication system, a comprehensive authentication system, and an SSL certificate mechanism for DBAs.
ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides complete index services such as LocalIndex, materialized views, and SSTable-Attached Secondary Index (SASI) for developers.
Native Apache Cassandra provides client drivers (non-Thrift mode) for multiple programming languages, such as Java, Python, PHP, .NET, and Node.js. The performance of native client drivers is consistent with that of Java clients.
Reason 3: ApsaraDB for Cassandra works with X-Pack Spark to facilitate big data storage
Apache Spark is a mainstream default engine for big data processing, and Apache Cassandra is a mainstream NoSQL big data database. The combination of Apache Cassandra and Apache Spark allows you to manage data-driven services such as risk control, recommendation, and IoT. ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides the X-Pack Spark engine to facilitate your usage.
Reason 4: 24/7 support is available to ensure stability and security
ApsaraDB for Cassandra provides enterprise-grade disaster recovery features such as multiple data centers deployed in the same region and backup and restoration. The ApsaraDB for Cassandra team offers 24/7 support to ensure stability and security of your databases, and is committed to continuously enhancing performance and delivering features tailored to your business needs to empower your success.