While the rest of the NoSQL world continues to focus on specific use cases and faster transaction speeds, the Apache Cassandra project is now being backed by an enterprise service and support company. DataStax (formerly known as Riptano) yesterday announced the availability of a beta version of the DataStax OpsCenter for Apache Cassandra, the first such management console and dashboard for the NoSQL project.
Ben Werther, vice president of products at DataStax, said the command and control of NoSQL databases has not been a focus for most other projects. “It’s been identified as a gap in many of these [NoSQL] systems. We don’t think about the NoSQL space in the way many people do,” he said.
“There are similarities between NoSQL and Cassandra, such as not having traditional schemas and not being relational databases. But we’re focused on going beyond that by providing this platform for high-scale and very real-time operations. We’re fundamentally about focusing on customer progress.”
OpsCenter for Apache Cassandra will monitor the usage of this NoSQL database, and all logs and information will be stored right back in Cassandra. Because Cassandra 0.7 introduced the ability to load data directly into Hadoop clusters, that means that monitoring a Cassandra database with OpsCenter will enable quick transfer of those logs for analysis in Hadoop.
Of course, OpsCenter will be able to analyze data without Hadoop, said Werther. “What OpsCenter is going to help you manage is replication as well,” he said.
“Let’s say I have two replicas of my cluster: one side for real-time usage, one side for a Hadoop interface… Visualize the two geographically separate parts of the cluster, and you can see one is running in real time, the other is running something like a batch.”
DataStax OpsCenter for Apache Cassandra is still in beta, but the company is encouraging existing customers to try the software out now. Customers that already have a service and support agreement with DataStax will have access to OpsCenter immediately. Otherwise, OpsCenter is offered along with those same contracts for new customers.
