Get started with DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 6.8
DataStax Enterprise (DSE) is a self-managed database built on Apache Cassandra® that empowers you to manage your data infrastructure with enterprise-grade capabilities. DSE provides all the capabilities of Cassandra as well as advanced functionality.
Architecture
Cassandra and DSE databases are different from relational databases. They use a data model based on the types of queries, not on modeling entities and relationships.
DataStax highly recommends reviewing the DSE architecture to learn about key concepts and functionality that are essential to proper configuration and optimal performance.
Install DSE
Self-managed clusters require planning to ensure that you have the appropriate hardware, software, and configurations to support your workloads. To get started planning your cluster, see Capacity planning and hardware selection for DSE deployments and Initialize a DataStax Enterprise (DSE) cluster.
You can use DSE OpsCenter for integrated cluster management, including configuration, deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting. This isn’t required to use DSE, but it can be helpful for enforcing desired state and managing complex deployments.
After you deploy a cluster, install DSE on the nodes in the cluster. To compare installation options, see Choose an installation method.
Upgrade
See the Upgrade guide.
Secure
DSE Advanced Security provides detailed user access controls to keep applications data protected and compliant with regulatory standards like PCI, SOX, HIPAA, and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Key topics include:
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When you install DSE, it creates a |
Tune
Important tasks for optimizing database performance include the following:
Operate
The most commonly used operations include:
Connect
Several APIs and client libraries are available to connect to your databases:
These are the primary tools for moving data into and out of the database:
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Streaming tools, such as the DataStax Apache Kafka Connector
Monitor
DataStax provides and supports several tools to monitor clusters and view metrics. For more information, see Monitor DataStax Enterprise (DSE) clusters.
Advanced functionality
In addition to all the capabilities of Cassandra, DSE offers the following capabilities:
- DSE Analytics
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Built on a production-certified version of Apache Spark™, with enhanced capabilities like AlwaysOn SQL for process streaming and historical data at cloud scale.
- DSE Graph
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DSE Graph is optimized for storing billions of items and their relationships. This enables you to identify and analyze hidden relationships between connected data and build powerful modern applications for real-time use cases: fraud detection, customer 360, social networks, IoT, and recommendation systems. The DSE Graph Quick Start is a great place to get started.
- DSE Search
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Provides powerful search and indexing capabilities, including support for full-text, relevancy, sub-string, and fuzzy queries over large datasets, aggregation, and geospatial matchups.
- DSE Advanced Security
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Provides fine-grained user and access controls to keep applications data protected and compliance with regulatory standards like PCI, SOX, HIPAA, and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- DSE Metrics Collector
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Aggregates DSE metrics and integrates with existing monitoring solutions to facilitate problem resolution and remediation.
- DSE Management Services
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DSE Management Services automatically handle administration and maintenance tasks and assist with overall database cluster management.
- NodeSync Service
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Continuous background repair that virtually eliminates manual efforts to run repair operations in a DataStax cluster.
- Advanced Replication
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Advanced Replication allows a single cluster to have a primary hub with multiple spokes. This allows configurable, bi-directional distributed data replication to and from source and destination clusters.
Support
For knowledge base articles and assistance with DataStax Enterprise (DSE), visit IBM Support.
