Get started with Hyper-Converged Database (HCD)
Hyper-Converged Database (HCD) is a self-managed database built on Apache Cassandra® that empowers you to manage your data infrastructure with enterprise-grade capabilities. This topic provides essential information for users new to HCD.
HCD provides all the capabilities of Apache Cassandra®, plus optional vector search capabilities. You can evaluate HCD with vector search free of charge for 180 days.
Operations platform
Mission Control is the operations platform for HCD. It simplifies management of all HCD operations across an array of hosting options from the cloud to on-premises and everything in-between.
Mission Control focuses on the lifecycle management, security, operations, and observability of HCD clusters. It handles the orchestration of automation across regional cluster boundaries. This centralizes management of globally deployed clusters in a single location.
Evaluate HCD with Docker
You can use Docker to explore non-production development with HCD in a containerized environment. For more information, go to the HCD page, click Learn More, enter your contact information, and then click Submit.
Plan your installation
After you have evaluated HCD with Docker, you can choose a deployment method to install HCD on your infrastructure.
Self-managed clusters
Self-managed clusters require planning to ensure that you have the right hardware and software to support your workload. Explore the following topics in the Mission Control documentation to help you plan your cluster:
Choose a deployment method
Before starting development, you need to deploy an HCD cluster. DataStax offers a variety of ways to set up a cluster. Select the method that best suits your environment:
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Recommended: Mission Control. Mission Control is a cloud-based service that provides a unified management console for your database clusters. If you are planning a production deployment, DataStax recommends using Mission Control to manage your clusters.
Use the Mission Control UI to install HCD without running Kubernetes manually. The UI provides simple and expert modes.
If you have Kubernetes experience, you can use the CLI to run
kubectlcommands for installation.Mission Control also deploys the Data API for a simple JSON document oriented interface to data. For more details on the Data API, see Get started with the Data API.
For Mission Control installation options, see Choose an installation method.
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Binary tarball installer. Installs HCD on any supported Linux-based platform. Does not require root permissions.
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Docker. You can use Docker to explore non-production development with HCD in a containerized environment. For more information, go to the HCD page, click Learn More, enter your contact information, and then click Submit.
For installation instructions, see Install HCD.
Choose an API and connect
HCD 1.2 provides a variety of APIs for developing applications:
| API | Description |
|---|---|
Data API with clients |
The Data API is DataStax’s API for writing applications that store and query unstructured document data. DataStax provides several clients to facilitate interaction with the Data API. |
CQL API with drivers |
The Cassandra Query Language (CQL) is a SQL-like language for querying and managing databases. It stores structured data in tables and uses primary keys to index data. The main development tool for writing applications that use CQL are the community-supported and DataStax-supported drivers that are available in various languages. For example, see Python, NodeJS, or Java quickstarts. For details, see Cassandra drivers supported by DataStax. |
CQL API with |
The Cassandra Query Language Shell ( |
For details, see Compare connection methods.
Load data
DataStax provides tools for getting data into and out of the database:
