Serverless database overview

Astra DB Serverless is a fully managed serverless database-as-a-service (DBaaS), powered by Apache Cassandra®, an open-source NoSQL distributed database.

Astra DB Serverless offers two types of serverless databases: Serverless (Vector) and Serverless (Non-Vector).

Serverless (Vector) databases

  • Designed for vector search applications, such as Generative AI (GenAI), semantic search, and geospatial search.

  • Stores vector embeddings alongside non-vector tabular data.

  • Auto-generate embeddings with vectorize.

  • Ideal for Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)-based applications, such as chatbots, agents, support bots, sentiment analysis, personalization, and multi-media search.
Serverless (Non-Vector) databases

  • Designed for generic applications, such as content management, user authentication, and transactional applications.

For more information, see Intro to Astra DB Serverless, Intro to vector databases, and Create a database.

Database terminology

Depending on your background and experience, you might be familiar with various terminology for database components. For example, Apache Cassandra® users might use terms like clusters, keyspaces, tables, and columns. Whereas other developers might use terms like namespaces, collections, documents, and fields to refer to functionally similar or identical components.

In Astra DB, the terminology you encounter depends on the database types and features that you use. The following table explains some of these terms. Each set of terms describe functionally similar components, but these components are not always exact equivalents. For example, a single field of vector data doesn’t necessarily translate directly to a single column of non-vector data.

Serverless (Vector) databases Serverless (Non-Vector) databases and CQL Description

Namespace

Keyspace

A container for one or more collections or tables within a database.

The Astra Portal uses namespace in Serverless (Vector) databases and keyspace in Serverless (Non-Vector) databases. However, the name of the default namespace for each Serverless (Vector) database is default_keyspace.

The Data API and clients for Astra DB Serverless use namespace. You can’t use the Data API to manage Serverless (Non-Vector) databases. For more information, see API reference overview and Databases reference.

Collection

Table

A container for data within a database.

The Astra Portal uses collection in Serverless (Vector) databases and table in Serverless (Non-Vector) databases.

The Data API and clients for Astra DB Serverless use collection.

Although you can store non-vector data, including CQL table data, in a collection, the Astra Portal and Data API still use the terms collection and namespace.

If you use CQL to CREATE TABLE in a namespace in a Serverless (Vector) database, the Astra Portal still uses the terms collection and namespace. However, if you use CQL to load data, you must continue to use CQL to manage that data. You can’t use the Data Explorer or the Data API to manage CQL data.

Document

Row

A piece of data, having one or more properties, stored in a collection or table in a database.

Field

Column

Properties or attributes of data, such as vector dimensions or IDs.

Cloud providers

Astra DB Serverless supports multiple regions across Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. Availability, pricing, and database types vary by region.

Regions with an asterisk (*) are restricted to approved customers based on credit consumption. To request access to a restricted region, contact your Account Manager.

Amazon Web Services

  • Americas

  • Asia Pacific

  • Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

ca-central-1

Montréal

check*

Standard

sa-east-1

São Paulo

check*

Premium Plus

us-east-1

Virginia

check

Standard

us-east-2

Ohio

check

check

Standard

us-west-2

Oregon

check

Standard
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

ap-east-1

Hong Kong

check*

Premium

ap-south-1

Mumbai

check*

check

Standard

ap-southeast-1

Singapore

check

Standard

ap-southeast-2

Sydney

check*

Premium
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

eu-central-1

Frankfurt

check

Standard

eu-west-1

Ireland

check

check

Standard

eu-west-2

London

check*

Standard

DataStax adds new regions based on customer demand. If your preferred region isn’t listed here, you can submit a support ticket or send us a message through live chat in the Astra Portal.

Google Cloud

  • Americas

  • Asia Pacific

  • Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

northamerica-northeast1

Montréal, Québec

check

check*

Standard

northamerica-northeast2

Toronto, Ontario

check*

Standard

us-central1

Council Bluffs, Iowa

check

Standard

us-east1

Moncks Corner, South Carolina

check

check

Standard

us-east4

Ashburn, Virginia

check

check*

Standard

us-west1

The Dalles, Oregon

check

Standard

us-west4

Las Vegas, Nevada

check

Standard
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

asia-northeast1

Tokyo, Japan

check*

Standard

asia-northeast2

Osaka, Japan

check*

Standard

asia-south1

Mumbai, India

check

Standard

australia-southeast1

Sydney, Australia

check

Premium
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

europe-west1

St. Ghislain, Belgium

check*

Standard

europe-west2

London, England

check

check*

Premium

europe-west3

Frankfurt, Germany

check*

Standard

europe-west4

Eemshaven, Netherlands

check*

Premium

DataStax adds new regions based on customer demand. If your preferred region isn’t listed here, you can submit a support ticket or send us a message through live chat in the Astra Portal.

Microsoft Azure

  • Americas

  • Asia Pacific

  • Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

brazilsouth

Sao Paulo

check*

Premium Plus

canadacentral

Toronto

check

Standard

centralus

Iowa

check*

Standard

eastus

Virginia

check

Standard

eastus2

Virginia

check*

Standard

westus2

Washington

check

Standard

westus3

Arizona

check

check

Premium
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

australiaeast

New South Wales

check*

check*

Premium

centralindia

Pune

check*

check*

Standard
Region Location Serverless (Non-Vector) support Serverless (Vector) support Pricing

germanywestcentral

Frankfurt

check*

Standard

northeurope

Ireland

check*

Standard

westeurope

Netherlands

check

Standard

DataStax adds new regions based on customer demand. If your preferred region isn’t listed here, you can submit a support ticket or send us a message through live chat in the Astra Portal.

See also

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