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The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the steward for nearly 150 key open-source projects and initiatives, has announced Apache Cassandra 1.2, the latest version of the scalable, fault-tolerant, big data distributed database.
Highlights for the second-generation high-performance, NoSQL database include clustering across virtual nodes, inter-node communication, atomic batches and request tracing. In addition, Cassandra 1.2 also marks the release of version 3 of the Cassandra Query Language (CQL3), to simplify application modeling, allow for more powerful mapping, and alleviate design limitations through more natural representation.
“We are pleased to announce Cassandra 1.2,” Jonathan Ellis, vice president of Apache Cassandra, said in a statement. “By improving support for dense clusters —powering multiple terabytes per node— as well as simplifying application modeling, and improving data cell storage/design/representation, systems are able to effortlessly scale petabytes of data.”
The Cassandra NoSQL database is known for handling thousands of requests per second and powering massive data sets quickly and reliably without compromising performance—whether running in the cloud or partially on-premise in a hybrid data store. Apache Cassandra is successfully used by an array of organizations, including Adobe, Appscale, Appssavvy, Backupify, Cisco, Clearspring, Cloudtalk, Constant Contact, DataStax, Digg, Digital River, Disney, eBay, Easou, Formspring, Hailo, Hobsons, IBM, Mahalo.com, Morningstar, Netflix, Openwave, OpenX, Palantir, PBS, Plaxo, Rackspace, Reddit, RockYou, Shazam, SimpleGeo, Spotify, Thomson Reuters, Twitter, Urban Airship, U.S. Government, Walmart Labs, Williams-Sonoma, and Yakaz.
“We are really excited to begin taking advantage of all the new features Apache Cassandra 1.2 has to offer—particularly virtual nodes and atomic batches,” Ed Anuff, vice president of mobile platform at Apigee, said in a statement, adding that he expects these new features to have a central role in future enhancements to the company’s architecture.
“It’s great to see the core of Apache Cassandra continue to evolve,” said independent software developer Kelly Sommers, also in a statement. “In Cassandra 1.2 the introduction of vnodes will simplify managing clusters while improving performance when adding and rebuilding nodes. Version 1.2 also includes many new features, performance improvements and further heap reduction to alleviate the burden on the JVM [Java Virtual Machine] garbage collector.”
Cassandra 1.2 includes features that simplify application development, stated Brian O’Neill, lead architect at Health Market Science. “Atomic batches provide a mechanism for developers to ensure transactional integrity across a business process, instead of relying on idempotent operations and retry mechanisms. Additionally, native support for collections is attractive and a compelling reason to explore CQL 3,” he said in a statement.
Apache Cassandra continues to be a key option for “scalability and high availability without compromising performance and, with the improvements provided in v1.2, reinforces our commitment to growth while preserving backwards compatibility,” Ellis said.