Citrix Application Performance Management

By Joe Rizzo, TMCnet Contributing Writer

DataStax says that its database is different from other relational databases. It sells products that are built on top of the open source “not only SQL” or “NoSQL” data store Apache Cassandra combined with Apache Hadoop. The Apache Hadoop software library is a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models. It is designed to scale up from single servers to thousands of machines, each offering local computation and storage.

Apache Cassandra is a massively scalable open-source NoSQL database. It is a project designed to handle very large amounts of data in real-time while providing continuous availability even across multi-datacenters and the cloud. Apache Cassandra evolved from work at Google (News - Alert), Amazon and Facebook, and is in use at leading companies such as Netflix, Rackspace, and eBay.

On January 10, 2013, DataStax announced their latest version of the Apache Cassandra software, Community Edition 1.2. It is described as a massively scalable open-source NoSQL database. This new release comes with a free edition of DataStax OpsCenter, their visual management and monitoring solution in use today for Cassandra. It enables developers to manage and monitor their Cassandra clusters creating a point-and-click solution from any location and from nearly any device.

Jonathan Ellis, the chief technology officer at DataStax, said, "Cassandra 1.2 represents one of the most significant releases of the database yet. This new release makes it much easier for developers to insert and manipulate data, while CQL3 in 1.2 allows them to model data more naturally. We also worked to improve Cassandra deployments on denser hardware, with features like virtual nodes (vnodes), disk failure policies and compaction performance." CQL3 is the third version of the Cassandra Query Language and is being released with Cassandra 1.2.

Cassandra 1.2 will also feature atomic batches, inter-node communication and request tracing. These are supposed to simplify the process of setting up new clusters and enable these new clusters to perform at a higher level.

An advantage that vnodes bring to Cassandra 1.2 is easing the use of heterogeneous machines in a cluster. There comes a point when older machines need to be upgraded. During the transition, it’s a great advantage to have the newer nodes bear more of the load immediately easing the transition.

The combination of vnodes, CQL3 and atomic batches are designed to make it easier for new users to set up a cluster and be productive quicker. Existing users should see their clusters doing more because of the performance improvements but the key word in this scenario is “should.” While there is no question that a new set up will go smoothly, there seems to be just a hint of doubt that an existing cluster will seamlessly transfer over to the new version.

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