Azure Cosmos DB

Website

azure.microsoft.com

Categories

#NoSQL Databases #Databases #Graph Databases #Key-Value Database

Apache Cassandra

Website

cassandra.apache.org

Categories

#Databases #NoSQL Databases #Relational Databases #Big Data

Azure Cosmos DB features and specs

• Global Distribution
  Azure Cosmos DB allows for the distribution of data across multiple global regions, enhancing availability and delivering low-latency access to data for users around the world.
• Multi-Model Support
  It supports multiple data models including document, graph, key-value, and column-family APIs, making it versatile for a variety of applications and use cases.
• Automatic Scaling
  The database automatically scales up and down to meet the demands of application traffic, helping to manage workloads efficiently without manual intervention.
• High Throughput and Low Latency
  Cosmos DB offers high performance with single-digit millisecond read and write latencies, ensuring fast access to data for applications.
• Comprehensive SLAs
  Azure Cosmos DB provides industry-leading SLAs covering availability, throughput, consistency, and latency, offering strong guarantees for customers.
• Integrated Security
  It includes robust security features such as SSL/TLS encryption, role-based access control, and integration with Azure Active Directory for secure data management.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Cosmos DB

• Cost
  Azure Cosmos DB can be expensive, especially for high-throughput workloads and global distribution scenarios. Its pricing model based on provisioned throughput (RU/s) can add up quickly.
• Complexity
  Managing and optimizing Cosmos DB can be complex, requiring a deep understanding of its configuration settings, partitioning strategies, and indexing to achieve optimal performance.
• Vendor Lock-In
  As a proprietary service, using Cosmos DB tightly couples your application to Azure. This can make it difficult to migrate to other database solutions or cloud providers in the future.
• Consistency Models
  Azure Cosmos DB supports multiple consistency levels which can introduce complexity in designing applications. Developers need to understand and choose the appropriate consistency level for their specific use case.
• Limited Native Analytics
  Cosmos DB does not have built-in advanced analytics capabilities. Integrating with other services like Azure Synapse or Databricks may be necessary for sophisticated data analytics and reporting.

Apache Cassandra features and specs

• Scalability
  Apache Cassandra is designed for linear scalability and can handle large volumes of data across many commodity servers without a single point of failure.
• High Availability
  Cassandra ensures high availability by replicating data across multiple nodes. Even if some nodes fail, the system remains operational.
• Performance
  It provides fast writes and reads by using a peer-to-peer architecture, making it highly suitable for applications requiring quick data access.
• Flexible Data Model
  Cassandra supports a flexible schema, allowing users to add new columns to a table at any time, making it adaptable for various use cases.
• Geographical Distribution
  Data can be distributed across multiple data centers, ensuring low-latency access for geographically distributed users.
• No Single Point of Failure
  Its decentralized nature ensures there is no single point of failure, which enhances resilience and fault-tolerance.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Cassandra

• Complexity
  Managing and configuring Cassandra can be complex, requiring specialized knowledge and skills for optimal performance.
• Eventual Consistency
  Cassandra follows an eventual consistency model, meaning that there might be a delay before all nodes have the latest data, which may not be suitable for all use cases.
• Write-heavy Operations
  Although Cassandra handles writes efficiently, write-heavy workloads can lead to compaction issues and increased read latency.
• Limited Query Capabilities
  Cassandra's query capabilities are relatively limited compared to traditional RDBMS, lacking support for complex joins and aggregations.
• Maintenance Overhead
  Regular maintenance tasks such as node repair and compaction are necessary to ensure optimal performance, adding to the administrative overhead.
• Tooling and Ecosystem
  While the ecosystem for Cassandra is growing, it is still not as extensive or mature as those for some other database technologies.

Azure Cosmos DB: Comprehensive Overview

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Course Intro | DS101: Introduction to Apache Cassandra™

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