Apache Cassandra is an open-source database management framework that uses a column-based distributed data model. Built to handle large data stores across clusters of commodity servers, Cassandra provides a highly available, fault-tolerant database environment with high throughput capabilities. Because Cassandra distributes and replicates data across clusters, every node in that cluster has the same role and can service any request, eliminating network bottlenecks and single points of failure.
In addition, Cassandra provides developers with ample functionalities, including easy elasticity and scalability, tunable consistency, MapReduce support for Hadoop integrations, and CQL (Cassandra Query Language) that may be used with language drivers for Java (JDBC), Python (DBAPI2), Node.JS (Helenus) and Golang (gocql). A number of high-profile organizations use Cassandra, including GoDaddy, Reddit, Instagram, and The Weather Channel.
Monitor business transactions on Cassandra
Cassandra backend applications, instrumented with AppDynamics Java agents, are auto-discovered and show up in AppDynamics. Business transactions are automatically discovered with out-of-the-box configurations as seen in the application dashboard.
Sample Cassandra backend business transaction
Cassandra backend detailed call graph
Continuing from the sample above, drilling down into the 'CassandraClient' shows various detailed information about the Cassandra backend calls, including a call graph where users can inspect the actual calls and timings of each call within their application code
Cassandra backend metrics aggregation
AppDynamics captures information on Cassandra backend communications as metrics for average response time, calls per minute, and errors per minute. These metrics are also aggregated into node, tier, and application level, along with other types of transactions, if any, to give users a Cassandra backend performance status at each of those levels
