December 2019 Summaries

In 2020, the database world is expected to see significant growth and changes. Developers will have more options for data models, with NoSQL databases becoming increasingly popular. DBaaS offerings will make it easier to deploy and manage new workloads. Graph technology is set to become mainstream as companies focus on relationship-based problems. Multi-cloud projects are expected to become a reality, with mission-critical applications running across multiple cloud services independently and at scale. The growth of containers and microservices will start affecting database design decisions. Kubernetes will enter the "trough of disillusionment" as real-world deployments begin taking off. The availability of 5G is expected to drive up data growth rates, leading to increased demand for scalable applications and database implementations. Finally, the release of Apache Cassandra™ 4.0 is anticipated to create a wave of upgrades due to its stability fixes and testing.

This week, DataStax made their DataStax Bulk Loader and Apache Kafka Connector tools available for free to developers working with open source Cassandra. The text discusses various use cases of the DataStax Bulk Loader tool, including migrating data from one DSE cluster to another, preserving writetime and TTL while migrating data, changing table schemas without losing existing data, loading data from DSEFS, and migrating data from an RDBMS to DSE. The examples provided demonstrate how these tasks can be accomplished using the DataStax Bulk Loader tool.

DataStax has made its bulk loader and Apache Kafka® connector freely available for developers working with open source Cassandra. The DataStax Bulk Loader is a tool that can quickly load JSON/CSV files into the database, unload data to files for analysis, or count rows in a table. It's faster than any other Cassandra tool. The DataStax Kafka Connector is a sink connector that simplifies bringing event streaming data to Cassandra with "zero code" experience. This connector has earned Confluent's Verified Gold status and is the fastest way to get data from Kafka to Cassandra while providing flexibility in reading from multiple Kafka topics and writing to multiple Cassandra tables. Additionally, DataStax introduced Luna, a subscription-based support for open source Cassandra.

DataStax Luna is a subscription-based support service for open source Apache Cassandra, provided by the experts who authored most of its code. It offers support for general-purpose and technical questions related to Cassandra deployments, with plans designed to fit various business and technical needs. Luna supports versions 2.1, 2.2, and 3.x and can be subscribed to directly through the website using a credit card. Additionally, DataStax has introduced Apache Kafka® Connector and DataStax Bulk Loader for Cassandra to facilitate faster data loading and unloading.

Last week, Nordstrom Rack and Costco experienced website outages during the peak holiday shopping season, highlighting the need for modern database technology to handle increased traffic. Industry watchers estimated that Costco's day-long website issues cost the company nearly $11 million. Ensuring a reliable website is crucial in today's age of social media and high customer expectations. Companies should invest in upgrading their database technology to avoid losing customers and profits during peak shopping periods. Preparing for major events requires certainty that websites and apps can handle increased traffic, and the right database can help achieve this goal.

The use of containers has significantly accelerated modern application development due to their efficiency compared to virtual machines. They allow applications and dependencies to be packaged together into a minimal deployable image, simplifying the "works on my machine" problem. Containers also enable developers to move applications between environments while ensuring they behave as expected. DevOps teams can improve delivery speed and ship better software at scale. However, managing container assignment to servers and handling load balancers and network rules led to the creation of container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. This platform handles assigning containers to servers, connecting them together, and monitoring their health. It also restarts containers if they go down and schedules replacements on other hardware. Stateful workloads have become more viable with components that keep stateful workloads in mind, such as software-defined storage backends where data can follow the container wherever it is scheduled or a scheduler that knows it cannot simply spin things back up. DataStax Enterprise (DSE) simplifies development by going masterless and making all nodes equal, capable of handling read and write requests without a single point of failure. Docker images for DSE, DSE OpsCenter, and DataStax Studio have been released for production use, significantly reducing testing time from hours to minutes. The DataStax Enterprise Operator for Kubernetes manages the lifecycle of individual Kubernetes resources, simplifying the process of managing the distributed data platform, DSE.

IBM has successfully run a globally distributed Apache Cassandra cluster on Kubernetes in the cloud. The company faced challenges such as global replication, scaling out and in, operational tasks, and monitoring while moving from a simple Apache Cassandra deployment to a global distribution that's operationally viable. To address these issues, they created a Kubernetes service for each Cassandra node and assigned each a private IP address. They also used Helm to automate their deployments. The process involved fine-tuning and creating a deployment in Kubernetes with every Cassandra volume and backup volume attached to it for maintenance and backups.

Many organizations still use legacy databases that struggle to keep up with the demands of modern applications. These databases often result in bottlenecks, single or multiple points of failure, and performance issues. Migrating to a masterless architecture can help overcome these challenges by reducing data silos, supporting rapid application development and deployment in any cloud environment, and enabling hybrid and multi-cloud deployment scenarios. Cloud-native databases with masterless architecture support the needs of modern applications today while also future-proofing them for emerging technologies and services.

Sam is joining DataStax at a time when traditional data approaches are being reimagined, aiming for faster innovation, tailored services, and advancements in science. However, existing methods aren't keeping up with the evolving needs of enterprises. DataStax is leading this transformation by connecting the future of data from developers to CEOs. As Chief Strategy Officer, Sam brings valuable experiences that will help drive new possibilities within the company. DataStax invites others to join them in embracing innovation and pushing boundaries.

Accelerate, a popular event for Cassandra enthusiasts, is expanding to two events in 2020. The first will be held in San Diego from May 11-13, and the second in London on June 2-3. Attendees can expect to learn about Cassandra, DataStax Enterprise, Graph, Analytics, Kubernetes, and Kafka. Speaking opportunities are available for both events, with a submission deadline of January 22, 2020.