Pending task metrics for writes

Pending tasks for the following metrics indicate that write requests are arriving faster than they can be handled.

Flushes pending 

The flush process flushes memtables to disk as SSTables. This metric shows the number of memtables queued for the flush process. The optimal number of pending flushes is 0 (or at most a very small number). A value greater than 0 indicates either I/O contention or degrading disk performance (see disk metrics such as disk latency, disk throughput, and disk utilization for indications of disk health).

Flush sorter tasks pending 

The flush sorter process performs the first step in the overall process of flushing memtables to disk as SSTables.

memtable post flushers pending 

The memtable post flush process performs the final step in the overall process of flushing memtables to disk as SSTables.

Write requests pending 

The memtable post flush process performs the final step in the overall process of flushing memtables to disk as SSTables.

Replicate on write tasks pending 

When an insert or update to a row is written, the affected row is replicated to all other nodes that manage a replica for that row. This is called the ReplicateOnWriteStage. This metric tracks the pending tasks related to this stage of the write process. During low or moderate write load, you should see 0 pending replicate on write tasks (or at most a very low number). A continuous high number signals a need to investigate disk I/O or network contention problems.