Starting with the 2.7 release, Kong Gateway will begin phasing out support for Cassandra as a configuration datastore, with full removal planned for the 3.4 release. This decision reflects a shift towards optimizing Kong's deployment models, particularly its Postgres, Hybrid, and DB-less configurations, which align better with current and emerging use cases. Cassandra was a key component in Kong's early history, especially for distributed data centers, but the evolution of deployment models and user demands for integration with various databases have shifted priorities. The Hybrid mode introduced in Kong 2.0 offers a clear separation of control and data planes, addressing limitations found in previous models. Kong is committed to making the transition from Cassandra as smooth as possible, providing long-term support for Cassandra users through 2025 with the 2.8 LTS version of Kong Enterprise. The strategic move aims to simplify maintenance and focus on enhancing ingress gateway and service mesh solutions, adapting to new industry patterns and practices.