Connect to Hyper-Converged Database (HCD)

When you develop applications that interact with your Hyper-Converged Database (HCD), you must connect to it programmatically through clients or drivers.

HCD offers several methods to connect including the Data API clients and DataStax-compatible Cassandra drivers. Depending on your use case, you might use one or more of these options.

Use cases for connecting to HCD
Use case Requirements Recommended methods

Application development

Use an HCD vector database

Data API and clients

Use an HCD non-vector database

CQL and Drivers

Other

Migration and bulk loading

Apache Spark

Apache Spark with Scala in spark-shell seamlessly connects to and accesses your HCD tables for advanced data analysis.

Data API

Use the Data API to work with HCD vector databases, including commands for creating collections and tables, loading data, querying data, and more.

You can access the Data API over HTTP or through the Data API clients.

If you’re new to the Data API, try the quickstart for collections or the quickstart for tables for a demo of some common operations.

For detailed Data API and client reference material, see Get started with the Data API.

Clients

You can use the Data API clients to access all Data API commands. You can also connect to the Data API over HTTP.

Language Client Version Dependency Documentation

Python

astrapy

Latest astrapy release on GitHub

Python 3.8 or later

Get started with the Data API

TypeScript

astra-db-ts

Latest astra-db-ts release on GitHub

Node.js 18 or later

Get started with the Data API

Java

astra-db-java

Latest astra-db-java release on Maven Central

Java 17 or later (21 recommended)

Get started with the Data API

If you’re new to the Data API, try the quickstart for collections or the quickstart for tables for a demo of some common operations.

For detailed Data API and client reference material, see Get started with the Data API.

Drivers

You can use drivers to interact with your HCD databases, including sending Cassandra Query Language (CQL) statements.

The following drivers are compatible with HCD:

Supported drivers
Language Driver Latest version Documentation

C++

cpp-driver

Latest cpp-driver release on GitHub

Connect with the C++ driver

C#

csharp-driver

Latest CassandraCSharpDriver release on NuGet

Connect with the C# driver

Java

cassandra-java-driver

Latest cassandra-java-driver release on GitHub

Connect with the Java driver

Node.js

nodejs-driver

Latest nodejs-driver release on GitHub

Connect with the Node.js driver

Python

python-driver

Latest python-driver release on GitHub

Connect with the Python driver

Scala

cassandra-spark-connector

Latest cassandra-spark-connector release on GitHub

Connect to HCD with the Apache Cassandra Spark connector

For more information about drivers, see Cassandra drivers supported by DataStax.

cqlsh

Because Hyper-Converged Database (HCD) is powered by Apache Cassandra®, you can use Cassandra Query Language (CQL) to programmatically interact with your databases through cqlsh or a driver. For more information, see Connect to Hyper-Converged Database (HCD) with cqlsh.

DataStax Bulk Loader

The DataStax Bulk Loader (DSBulk) supports large data uploads and migrations. For more information, see the DataStax Bulk Loader reference.

Mission Control

Mission Control provides a web-based interface for managing your HCD clusters. It is best for managing your clusters and performing cluster operations.

For application development, fine-grained data manipulation, and nuanced searches, you must use a programmatic approach.

For more information, see Mission Control.

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