Astra DB Serverless Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Astra Portal

What are considered Recent Resources?

Recent Resources include the five most recent databases and streaming tenants resources used by someone in your organization.

Where can I find my organization ID?

To learn how to get your Astra DB organization ID, see Get your organization ID.

Where can I find my database ID?

To learn how to get database IDs, see Get your database ID.

Where can I find a database’s region ID (datacenter ID)?

To learn how to get datacenter IDs, see Get a database region ID.

Can I use strict security settings, such as an ad blocker, with the Astra Portal?

To ensure you have the best experience with the Astra Portal, add Astra DB Serverless as an approved page for your ad blocker.

If you are using strict security settings in your web browser, you might not see everything in the Astra Portal, such as messages and certain functionalities that simplify your experience.

While you can run DataStax Enterprise (DSE) on premises and in the cloud, Astra DB allows you to create databases in minutes, with reduced complexity, fewer operational concerns, and an approachable entry point for developing your applications. Astra DB is a true database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offering that provides simplified database management with flexible pricing.

DSE includes Advanced Workloads (DSE Search, Analytics, and Graph), which are not available in Astra DB. Read Astra DB: Designing A Serverless Cloud-Native DBaaS for an in-depth understanding of the cloud-native architecture of Astra DB Serverless.

Which cloud vendors does Astra DB Serverless support?

Astra DB Serverless supports creating databases on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

Which DataStax drivers work with Astra DB Serverless?

The following DataStax drivers are compatible with Astra DB Serverless:

What is the practical limit for the amount of data stored in an Astra DB Serverless database?

There is no practical limit to the number of bytes an Astra DB Serverless database can store.

Can I restore my data if my database is suspended?

Yes, your data will be restored when your database becomes active again. If your database is suspended, you must add a credit card or wait for your credits to be renewed before your database will be active again.

For more information, see Backup and restore.

Can I use `cfstats` or `nodetool`?

No, Astra DB Serverless is a zero-operations database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offering. Some operational Apache Cassandra® tools are not relevant. For more information, see Database limits.

Astra DB Serverless offers access to a limited set of database metrics that you can view in the Astra Portal. For more information, see View and export metrics.

Which ports does Astra DB Serverless use?

If you need to make firewall exceptions, Astra DB Serverless uses the following ports:

Ports
Port	Description
`443`	APIs and Astra DB metrics
`29042`	CQL
`29080`	Metadata service

Is VPC peering possible for Astra DB Serverless databases?

VPC peering is not supported for Astra DB Serverless databases. Private endpoints are available.

Can I change a namespace or keyspace name?

No, you can’t change the name of a namespace or keyspace. However, you can create a new namespace or keyspace with a different name, and then reload your data.

I created my table in Astra Portal. When I run a `SELECT` statement I get an error. What do I do?

This is the common error:

Invalid Request: Error from server: code=2200 [Invalid query] message="table TABLE_NAME does not exist"

When you create a table through the Astra Portal, the table name, keyspace name, or column name is case-sensitive. You can access case-sensitive characters using double quotes.

For example, see the SELECT statement below:

token@cqlsh:test> desc tables;
token@cqlsh:test> select * from "**Case_Sensitive**";

CQL

Why do I get an error when I try to create a keyspace in the CQL shell?

You must create keyspaces in the Astra Portal.

Can I delete a keyspace using CQL?

To prevent accidental deletion of your data, you cannot delete the last keyspace in your database.

The following error appears if you try to delete the last keyspace in the CQL shell:

token@cqlsh> drop keyspace *KEYSPACE_NAME*;
Unauthorized: Error from server: code=2100
[Unauthorized] message="Missing correct permission on *DATABASE_NAME*."

To avoid any storage costs associated with the keyspace, you can drop tables from the keyspace by running:

drop table *TABLE_NAME*

What is Storage Attached Indexing (SAI)?

Storage Attached Indexing (SAI) is a highly-scalable, globally-distributed index for Cassandra that is available for Astra DB Serverless databases.

How can I fix a "Missing Correct Permission Error"?

A permission error occurs for two reasons:

Astra DB Serverless places certain limitations on the user with Database limits.
Inadequate user permissions on your account.

token@cqlsh> select * from test_db.data
Unauthorized: Error from server: code=2100
[Unauthorized] message="No SELECT permission on <table test_db.data>"

Billing

What happens when my monthly credit runs out?

For organizations on the Free plan, Astra DB Serverless prompts you to add a credit card when your credit limit runs low. DataStax also notifies you by email and in the Astra Portal.

If your application uses all of your monthly credit, your database pauses until you add a payment method, which restarts the database. Alternatively, you can wait until the next billing cycle for your monthly credits to refresh.

Unused credits do not roll over. Monthly credits refresh on the first of every month for each organization on an applicable plan.

To view your credit balance in the Astra Portal, go to Billing.

Use this product documentation to learn about the capabilities of your Astra DB Serverless database and how to use your databases.
Start using Astra DB with the quickstart and integrations.
To send us feedback or get additional help, use the chat feature in the Astra Portal.

For more information, see Contact support and View and subscribe to Astra platform status updates.