DSA 5600 – NoSQL Database

Systems
Section 3: Apache Cassandra
Instructor: Yutong Zhao
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
2
1. Introduction to Cassandra

3
 What is Cassandra?
• Apache Cassandra is a distributed, NoSQL database designed for handling large volumes of
structured data across many servers without a single point of failure.

•Originally developed at Facebook to power their inbox search, later open-sourced and adopted by the
Apache Software Foundation.

•Key Characteristics:
• Scalability: Easily scales horizontally by adding more nodes.
• High Availability: No single point of failure; data is replicated across multiple nodes.
• NoSQL Model: Uses a schema-less, column-family-based storage model.
• Optimized for Write-Intensive Workloads: Handles high-speed inserts and updates efficiently.
• Eventual Consistency: Ensures availability over strict consistency (CAP theorem).

• Used By: Netflix, Twitter, eBay, Uber, and many more for high-performance, globally
distributed applications.

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 Key Features of Cassandra (1)

5
 Key Features of Cassandra (2)

6
 When to use Cassandra?

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 Cassandra vs. Relational Database (RDBMS)

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 Cassandra vs. Other NoSQL Database

9
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
1
2. Architecture & Data Model

11
 Architecture Overview: Nodes, Partitions

1
 Architecture Overview: Replication

1
 Gossip Protocol – How Nodes Communicate

1
 Hinted Handoff & Read
Repair

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 Cassandra’s Data Model

1
 Key Features of Cassandra

1
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
1
3. Working with Cassandra

19
 Creating a Keyspace

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 Creating a Table with Primary and Clustering
Keys
• product_id is the Partition
Key, which decides which
node stores the data.

• The table is schema-flexible,

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 Best Practices for Schema Design

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 Best Practices for Schema Design

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 Partitioning Strategies for Performance
Optimization

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 Denormalization vs. Normalization in
Cassandra

2
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
2
4. Querying Data with CQL

27
 Inserting and Querying Data

2
 CRUD Operations in Cassandra

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 Query Data with CQL – Basic SELECT

• Basic Querying with SELECT:

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 Query Data with CQL – Filtering Data

• Filtering Data:

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 Query Data with CQL - Aggregation

• Aggregation & Counting Records:

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 Lightweight Transactions (LWT) – Ensuring
Consistency

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 Using TTL (Time-to-Live) for Expiring Data

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 Batch Queries: Benefits and Pitfalls

3
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
3
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization

37
 Secondary Index

3
 Materialized
View

3
 SASI Indexes – Advanced Searching

4
 Read/Write Path Internals – Memtables,
SSTables, and Commitlogs

4
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
4
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security

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 Performance Optimization & Data Replication

4
 Replication Strategies in Cassandra

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 Understanding Consistency Levels

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 Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
& User Management

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 TLS Encryption & Authentication for Secure
Cassandra

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 Audit Logging & Monitoring Access

4
 Tuning Read & Write Performance

5
 Using Caching & Compaction Strategies

5
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
5
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery

53
 Backup and Restore in Cassandra

5
 Multi-Data Center Replication for Global
Availability

5
 Handling Node Failures in Production

5
 Security Features in Cassandra

5
 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Cassandra

5
 Advanced Data Modeling in Cassandra

5
 Integration with Other
Tools

6
 Outline
1. Introduction to Cassandra
2. Architecture & Data Model
3. Working with Cassandra
4. Querying Data with CQL
5. Indexing & Performance Optimization
6. Replication, Consistency, and Security
7. Backup, Monitoring & Recovery
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases
6
8. Advanced Topics & Real-world Use
Cases

62
 Case Studies of Cassandra in Production

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6