Datascape podcast episode 5 - exploring Cassandra database

Today we are talking to special guest, John Schulz , about the Cassandra Database System. We will explore the basics and compare it to conventional Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), include some use cases, best practices and a provide a few helpful tips for you to get started learning Cassandra.

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John began his career working with hierarchical and network databases back in the 1970’s. He then moved on to the relational database world and later got involved in open source. When NoSQL came out, John moved his career into that area and he later got involved with Cassandra in 2010 (back when it was Version 0.7).

John gathered a lot of experience with Cassandra working at AOL where they had significantly large databases very much distributed, which Cassandra is known for. In this episode, John shares exactly what Cassandra is, how it is defined, and what the database is best used for.

Key Points From This Episode:

Understand what Cassandra is, how it is defined, and what the database is best used for.How the nodes work, the recommended number of copies stored, and the architecture used.
Learn the difference between the open source and closed source versions of Cassandra.
Typical configurations of Cassandra nodes.
Understand the term ‘eventually consistent’ and how the consistency factor is applied.
Discover what the probability of data loss is on the Cassandra database.
Find out what the most expensive operations in Cassandra are and what drives up the costs.
The key differences and takeaways when modelling a database for Cassandra.
Learn the process and rules for deletes and upgrades within Cassandra.
Understand whether or not it is possible to use custom databases with Cassandra.
Discover what maintenance processes looks like in the Cassandra database.
Discussion about default configuration values that need to be adjusted.
The encryption abilities and security options for the Cassandra database.
Ideal use cases and architecture for Cassandra; time series database, billing records.
Tips and resources for learning to use Cassandra and getting started.