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Cassandra Cloud Deployment Guide

This guide covers deploying and operating Apache Cassandra in cloud environments.

Storage Strategy

Before selecting cloud platforms and instance types, understand the fundamental storage decision:

Storage Type Cost Performance Durability Operations
Ephemeral Included Lowest latency Requires RF=3+ backup Immutable infrastructure
Persistent Additional Good Native snapshots In-place patching

→ Storage Strategy Guide - Complete analysis of ephemeral vs persistent storage, cost models, patching strategies, and backup solutions

Cloud Platforms

Platform Guide Key Features
AWS Amazon Web Services EC2, EBS, Multi-AZ
GCP Google Cloud Platform GCE, Persistent Disks
Azure Microsoft Azure VMs, Managed Disks
Kubernetes Container orchestration Operators, StatefulSets

Cloud Considerations

Instance Selection

Workload AWS GCP Azure
Development m5.large n2-standard-2 Standard_D2s_v3
Production i3.2xlarge n2-highmem-8 Standard_L8s_v2
High Performance i3en.3xlarge n2-highmem-16 Standard_L16s_v2

Storage Options

Recommended storage types:
- AWS: io2 or gp3 EBS, i3 NVMe
- GCP: pd-ssd, local SSD
- Azure: Premium SSD, Ultra Disk

Requirements:
- IOPS: 3000+ for production
- Throughput: 125+ MB/s
- Latency: < 1ms

Network Configuration

# Security group rules (AWS example)
Inbound:
  - Port 9042: Client connections (CQL)
  - Port 7000: Inter-node communication
  - Port 7001: Inter-node SSL
  - Port 7199: JMX monitoring

Outbound:
  - All traffic to cluster nodes

Multi-Region Deployment

uml diagram

Best Practices

High Availability

  • Deploy across 3+ availability zones
  • Use RF=3 minimum per region
  • Configure proper snitch for cloud
  • Enable rack awareness

Cost Optimization

  • Use reserved instances for stable workloads
  • Right-size instances based on actual usage
  • Consider spot instances for non-critical workloads
  • Monitor and optimize storage

Security

  • Use VPCs/VNets for network isolation
  • Enable encryption at rest and in transit
  • Use IAM roles instead of credentials
  • Regular security audits

Next Steps