cassandra-rackdc.properties file
The GossipingPropertyFileSnitch, Ec2Snitch, and Ec2MultiRegionSnitch use the cassandra-rackdc.properties configuration file to determine which datacenters and racks nodes belong to.
They inform the database about the network topology to route requests efficiently and distribute replicas evenly.
Settings for this file depend on the type of snitch:
GossipingPropertyFileSnitch
This snitch is recommended for production.
It uses rack and datacenter information for the local node defined in the cassandra-rackdc.properties file and propagates this information to other nodes via gossip.
To configure a node to use GossipingPropertyFileSnitch, edit the cassandra-rackdc.properties file as follows:
-
Define the datacenter and rack that include this node. The default settings:
dc=DC1 rack=RAC1Datacenter and rack names are case-sensitive. For examples, see Initializing a single datacenter per workload type and Initializing multiple datacenters per workload type.
-
To save bandwidth, add the
prefer_local=trueoption. This option tells DataStax Enterprise to use the local IP address when communication is not across different datacenters.
PropertyFileSnitch and GossipingPropertyFileSnitch considerations
Understanding the PropertyFileSnitch and the GossipingPropertyFileSnitch requires background information about their behavior across DSE releases.
For important details, refer to this Tip in the Switching Snitches topic.
