A deep dive into Apache Cassandra's complete write path, covering coordinator selection, token ring and consistent hashing, the CommitLog (WAL) and MemTable write sequence, SSTable flushing, and compaction strategies. Explains tunable consistency levels (ONE, QUORUM, LOCAL_QUORUM, ALL, ANY), synchronous multi-datacenter replication, hinted handoff for node failures, and read repair for eventual consistency. Includes performance characteristics, failure scenario walkthroughs, common pitfalls like hot partitions and large batches, and best practices for partition key design and TTL usage.
Table of contents
Client Connection and Coordinator SelectionDetermining Replica NodesThe Write Path Within a NodeConsistency LevelsHere’s an ExampleData ReplicationWrite Performance CharacteristicsCompactionMulti-Datacenter ReplicationFailure Scenarios and HandlingCommon PitfallsBest PracticesFootnotes5 Impressions