Astra DB Serverless Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I get started with Astra DB Serverless?
The Astra DB Serverless quickstart guides you through creating a Serverless (Vector) database and using the Data API clients to load and search data.
How is Astra DB different from DSE?
Astra DB is a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offering that provides simplified database management with flexible pricing. As a cloud-based service, Astra DB alleviates operational overhead and offers an approachable entry point for application development. For more information about Astra DB’s cloud-based architecture, see Astra DB: Designing A Serverless Cloud-Native DBaaS.
While you can run DataStax Enterprise (DSE) on premises and in the cloud, DSE requires you to manage the database infrastructure, including provisioning, scaling, and monitoring. However, DSE includes Advanced Workloads (DSE Search, Analytics, and Graph) that aren’t available in Astra DB.
Astra Portal
The following questions relate to the Astra Portal.
Why doesn’t the Astra Portal load correctly?
If your browser doesn’t render the Astra Portal as expected, do the following:
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Make sure your internet connection is stable.
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Clear your browser cache or disable add-ons that could interfere with the Astra Portal.
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Make sure your firewall rules allow the following ports and third-party domains:
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app.pendo.io: Astra Portal -
sdk.split.io: Astra Portal -
443: APIs and Astra DB metrics -
29042: CQL -
29080: Metadata service
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See also:
What are Recent Resources?
When you sign in to the Astra Portal, Recent Resources includes the five databases and streaming tenants that were most recently accessed by someone in your Astra DB organization.
Organizations
The following questions relate to Astra DB organizations. For more information, see Manage organizations.
Databases
The following questions relate to Astra DB Serverless databases.
Which cloud vendors does Astra DB Serverless support?
You can create Astra DB Serverless databases on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. For specific regions available for each cloud vendor, see Astra DB Serverless database regions and maintenance schedules.
Can I restore my data if my database is suspended?
For Astra DB organizations on the Free plan, databases are suspended if your monthly credits run out. While suspended, you can’t access the data in the database.
To reactivate a Suspended database, you must provide a payment method or wait for your free monthly credits to refresh. For more information, see Subscriptions and billing.
Once reactivated, you can resume database operations and access the data in the database.
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 change the name of a keyspace?
No, you can’t change the name of a keyspace. Instead, you can create a new keyspace with a different name, and then reload your data to the new keyspace.
How do I get notified about database maintenance?
For the regional maintenance schedules, see Astra DB Serverless database regions and maintenance schedules.
To subscribe to Astra regional maintenance status notifications, go to Astra Regional Maintenance Status, and then click Subscribe To Updates.
If you don’t receive the notification emails, check your spam folder and make sure your allowed contacts include noreply@statuspage.io and noreply=statuspage.io@notifications.statuspage.io.
How do I check database metrics and usage?
To check the status and health of your databases, see View and export metrics and Database statuses.
For information about database usage and billing, see Subscriptions and billing.
Can I use cfstats or nodetool with Astra DB Serverless?
No. Because 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.
For monitoring purposes, Astra DB Serverless offers access to a limited set of database metrics that you can view in the Astra Portal or export to third-party metrics services. For more information, see View and export metrics.
What is Storage Attached Indexing (SAI)?
Storage Attached Indexing (SAI) is one of the indexing techniques used by Astra DB. For more information, see Introduction to vector databases: Indexing
Which DataStax drivers work with Astra DB Serverless?
DataStax supports the following drivers for Astra DB Serverless:
| Language | Driver | Version | Documentation | |
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C++ |
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C# |
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Go |
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Java |
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Node.js |
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Python |
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For more information, see Compare connection methods.
What if my CSV file is too large for the Data Loader?
For CSV files larger than 40MB, use the DataStax Bulk Loader (DSBulk).
CQL
The following questions relate to CQL for Astra DB. For more information, see Cassandra Query Language (CQL) for Astra DB.
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You can use the Data API to manage tables and table data in Serverless (Vector) databases. For more information, see Work with tables. |
What is CQL shell (cqlsh)?
CQL shell (cqlsh) is a command line tool that you can use to interact with your Astra DB databases. For more information, see Cassandra Query Language (CQL) for Astra DB.
Why can’t I create a keyspace in the Astra DB CQL shell?
Astra DB doesn’t support the CQL CREATE KEYSPACE command.
To create keyspaces in Astra DB Serverless databases, you can use the Astra Portal, DevOps API, Data API clients, or Astra CLI. For more information, see Manage keyspaces.
After you create the keyspace, you can use CQL to manage tables and data within the keyspace.
Can I use CQL to delete a keyspace?
Astra DB doesn’t support the CQL DROP KEYSPACE command.
To delete keyspaces in Astra DB Serverless databases, you can use the Astra Portal, DevOps API, Data API clients, or Astra CLI. For more information, see Manage keyspaces.
How do I fix a "No permission" error in CQL?
When using CQL for Astra DB, you can encounter missing permissions errors such as the following:
Unauthorized: Error from server: code=2100
[Unauthorized] message="No SELECT permission on <table test_db.data>"Missing permissions errors can occur in the following circumstances:
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You attempted to run a command that isn’t supported for CQL with Astra DB. For more information, see Cassandra Query Language (CQL) for Astra DB.
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Your command hit an Astra DB limitation. For more information, see Database limits.
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Your user role doesn’t have the required permissions to run the command. For more information, see Manage roles and permissions.
How do I fix a "table does not exist" error in CQL?
The following error can occur when using CQL for Astra DB:
Invalid Request: Error from server: code=2200
[Invalid query] message="table TABLE_NAME does not exist"To troubleshoot this error, do the following:
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Confirm that the table exists in the keyspace you are querying.
You can use the Astra Portal or Data API to view tables in your keyspaces. For example, see List table names.
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If the keyspace, table, or column names contain capital letters, rerun the failed command with case sensitivity.
In CQL, you must use double quotes (
") to access case-sensitive characters. For example:token@cqlsh:test> desc tables; token@cqlsh:test> select * from "Name_With_Capital_Letters";
Subscriptions and billing
The following questions relate to Astra DB Serverless subscriptions and billing. For more information about available subscription plans, pricing, and billing, see Subscriptions and billing.
What happens when my free monthly credits run out?
For Astra DB organizations on the Free plan, databases are suspended if your monthly credits run out. While suspended, you can’t access the data in the database.
To reactivate a Suspended database, you must provide a payment method or wait for your free monthly credits to refresh. For more information, see Subscriptions and billing.
Once reactivated, you can resume database operations and access the data in the database.
Security
The following questions relate to Astra DB Serverless security features and options. For information about security settings for organizations and databases, see the Astra DB Serverless administration documentation, such as Manage application tokens and Manage the database IP access list.
What measures are taken to protect data in Astra DB Serverless?
DataStax is committed to data privacy and security. This commitment includes robust security measures and compliance standards, such as HIPAA, SOC2 Type 2, and ISO 27001.
For more information, see the DataStax Trust Center.
How do I set up role-based access control (RBAC) in Astra DB Serverless?
For information about RBAC in Astra DB Serverless, see the following:
To monitor user activity in your Astra DB organization, see View the audit log.
Which ports does Astra DB Serverless use?
If you need to make firewall exceptions, Astra DB Serverless uses the following ports:
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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 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.
What is the Secure Connect Bundle (SCB)?
A Secure Connect Bundle (SCB) is a zip file that contains connection details for an Astra DB Serverless database, such as certificates and keys.
For information about downloading and using SCBs, see Secure Connect Bundle.
How do I download an SCB for a custom domain?
If you use custom domains for your Astra DB databases, you must use the DevOps API to download SCBs for custom domains.
How do I download an SCB for a specific region of a multi-region database?
In the Astra Portal, you must select the specific region for the SCB.
With the DevOps API, you must include the all=true parameter to generate SCB download links for all regions.
For more information, see Secure Connect Bundle.
Support
The following questions relate to DataStax Support and general Astra DB Serverless troubleshooting.
How do I get help with Astra DB Serverless?
In addition to the Astra DB Serverless documentation, you can visit the DataStax Developers Discord or contact DataStax Support. For information about DataStax Support plans and contact options, see How do I contact DataStax Support?.
How do I contact DataStax Support?
To browse help topics or submit a support ticket, visit the DataStax Support portal or use the live chat feature in the Astra Portal.
Additionally, you can schedule a support session for critical or sensitive situations that require direct attention, such as production system crashes, production system indefinite suspensions, and complete loss of service or inability to continue with regular operations for an unknown reason. To schedule a support system, do the following:
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Sign in to the Astra Portal, click your profile picture, and then select Help Center.
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In the Help Center pane, click Schedule Session, and then select your preferred date and time.
The level of support available to you depends on your subscription or support plan.
How do I check the status of the Astra DB platform?
The Astra System Status dashboard shows daily incident and uptime history for the Astra DB platform.
To subscribe to Astra platform status notifications, click Subscribe To Updates.
If you don’t receive the notification emails, check your spam folder and make sure your allowed contacts include noreply@statuspage.io and noreply=statuspage.io@notifications.statuspage.io.
How do I check database health and usage?
To check the status and health of your databases, see View and export metrics and Database statuses.
For information about database usage and billing, see Subscriptions and billing.
