3/29/2021 Cassandra Tutorial for Beginners | Learn Apache Cassandra - DataFlair

Cassandra Tutorial for Beginners |

Learn Apache Cassandra
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1. Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Objective

In this Apache Cassandra Tutorial, we will learn about what is Cassandra, what is
NoSQL database and also a short introduction of Relational/SQL vs NoSQL database.
We will also learn about different Apache Cassandra features, Cassandra History,
Architecture of Cassandra. In addition, we are going to study Apache Cassandra
Applications and Cassandra Data Model.

As the technology advances, the data has also expanded and grown exponentially. So,
there is a need for a new database. After many databases, Apache Cassandra came up
eventually, fulfilling every requirement.

So, let’s start Cassandra Tutorial.

Apache Cassandra Tutorial for Beginners | Learn Cassandra

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2. What is NOSQL Database?

There are two types of databases, Relational or SQL Databaseand NoSQL Database.
Relational Database provides a mechanism to store and retrieve data through tabular
relations. In other words, it consists of relational data. Whereas, NoSQL database
consists of non-relational data. This NoSQL database has a few advantages over SQL
or Relational Database. They can handle a huge amount of data and support easy
replication and also have a simple API. In this different data structures are used as
compared to the relational database.

Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Relational Vs NoSQL Database

Examples of Relational Database:MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle DB etc

Examples of NoSQL Database:Apache Cassandra, Apache HBase, MongoDBetc.

3. What is Apache Cassandra?

Apache Cassandra is an example of NoSQL Database. It is a distributed, decentralized
and an open-source database or a storage system. It is basically used for managing very
large amounts of structured data. There is no single point of failure, providing highly
available services.

Have a look at Cassandra vs MongoDB

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Apache Cassandra Tutorial – What is Cassandra

4. Cassandra Features
In this part of Cassandra Tutorial, we discuss some important features of Cassandra:

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Apache Cassandra Tutorial- Cassandra Features

a. Decentralized
Every node in the cluster is identical. There are no single points of failure.

b. Fault Tolerance
Since data is replicated to multiple nodes, fault tolerance is pretty high. Also, any failed
nodes are related with no downtime.

Do you know about Cassandra Curd Operation

c. Performance
The fundamental architecture of Apache Cassandra is very robust. Therefore, it proves
to be better than the alternatives.

d. Scalable
It is linearly scalable. In other words, the throughput is increased as you increase the
number of nodes in the Cassandra cluster.

e. Proven

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Apache Cassandra is used at various companies. Some of them are Netflix, GoDaddy,
GitHub, eBay etc.
These features of Apache Cassandra shows that it is actually very powerful and reliable.

5. Cassandra Tutorial – History

Avinash Lakshman and Prashant Malik initially developed Cassandra at Facebook. In
July 2008, Facebook released Cassandra as an open-source project on Google Code.
Later in March 2009, it became Apache Incubator project. Eventually, it became a top-
level project in February 2010.
After that there were many releases of Apache project:

Have a look at Cassandra Documented shell Commands

Table no.1 Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Cassandra History

S. Release
Version
No. Date

April 12,
1 0.6
2010

January
2 0.7
08, 2011

June 02,
3 0.8
2011

October
4 1.0
17, 2011

April 23,
5 1.1
2012

January
6 1.2
02, 2013

September
7 2.0
01, 2013

September
8 2.1
10, 2014

9 2.2 July 20,

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2015

November
10 3.0
11, 2015

11 3.1 –

June 23,
12 3.11
2017

Feb
13 3.11.2
19,2018

Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Cassandra History

6. Cassandra Architecture
The architecture of Cassandrahas various components. Some of them are:

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Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Cassandra Architecture

a. Node
Data is stored here.

b. Data Center
It is a collection of related nodes.

Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Data Center

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c. Commit Log
It is a mechanism in Cassandra for recovery when it crashes.

d. Cluster
Collection of data centres.

Let’s take a tour to Cassandra Collection Data Types

e. Mem-Table
It is a memory resident data structure.

f. SSTable
When the contents of mem-table reach the threshold value, the data is flushed here.

g. Bloom Filter
These are algorithms to test if an element is a member of a set.

h. Compaction
It is the process of freeing up space by merging the large accumulated data files.

7. Cassandra Tutorial – Data Model

Below, we are discussing data models in Cassandra:

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Apache Cassandra Tutorial – Data Model

a. Cluster
A Cassandra Cluster is a storage unit for data centers.
b. Keyspace
The outermost storage container for data in Cassandra is keyspace.

8. Cassandra Applications
Cassandra is used for many applications. Some of Cassandra Applicationsare:

1. AppScale:Back-end for Google App Engine applications.

2. Cisco‘s WebEx:storage for user feed and activity in near real time.
3. Globo.com:Back-end database for their streaming services.
4. Mahalo.com:Record user activity logs and topics for their Q&A website.
5. Netflix:Back-end database for their streaming services.
6. Nutanix:Store metadata and stats.

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