Cassandra Tutorial 3, Part 1: Modern Cassandra Deployment with Ansible - 2025 Edition

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

Idempotence by Default - No more accidental duplicates
Mature Transactions - Production-ready exactly-once semantics
KRaft Mode - No ZooKeeper, simplified operations
Cloud-Native Patterns - Producer pools and serverless ready
Enhanced Monitoring - Built-in observability and tracing
Schema Validation - Contract enforcement at producer level

Producer Evolution Since 2017

✅ Guaranteed Delivery - Idempotence prevents duplicates
✅ Atomic Operations - Multi-partition transactions
✅ Better Performance - Optimized batching and compression
✅ Cloud-Ready - Kubernetes and serverless patterns

Welcome to the advanced Kafka Producer tutorial for 2025! This comprehensive guide covers cutting-edge producer patterns that have become essential for production deployments.

Kafka Tutorial: Advanced Kafka Consumers in Java - Part 1 - 2025 Edition

in Kafka consumer

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

KIP-848 Protocol - Broker-coordinated partition assignment
Cooperative Rebalancing - Zero-downtime partition reassignment
Dead Letter Queues - Standard pattern for error handling
Consumer Interceptors - Cross-cutting concerns made easy
Automated Scaling - Cloud-native auto-scaling patterns
Enhanced Monitoring - Built-in lag tracking and alerting

Consumer Evolution Since 2018

✅ Smoother Operations - Incremental rebalancing minimizes disruption
✅ Better Error Handling - DLQ and retry patterns standardized
✅ Improved Observability - Metrics and interceptors built-in
✅ Cloud-Native Ready - Auto-scaling and managed services

Welcome to Part 1 of Advanced Kafka Consumers in 2025! This tutorial covers modern consumer patterns that have become essential for production Kafka deployments.

Kafka Tutorial: Kafka Clusters, Consumer Failover, and Broker Failover - 2025 Edition

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

KRaft Mode - No ZooKeeper! Native consensus with Raft
Faster Failover - Sub-second leader election
Improved Rebalancing - KIP-848 protocol for smooth transitions
Enhanced Monitoring - Built-in health checks and metrics
Cloud-Native - Kubernetes operators and auto-scaling
Multi-Region - Cross-datacenter replication patterns

High Availability Evolution Since 2017

✅ No External Dependencies - KRaft eliminates ZooKeeper
✅ Faster Recovery - Millisecond failover times
✅ Better Observability - Detailed failover metrics
✅ Automated Operations - Self-healing clusters

Ready to build bulletproof Kafka clusters? Let’s explore failover, high availability, and fault tolerance with hands-on examples!

Kafka Tutorial: Creating a Kafka Consumer in Java - 2025 Edition

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

KIP-848 Protocol - Zero-downtime rebalancing (no more stop-the-world!)
KRaft Mode - No ZooKeeper needed
Exactly-Once Consumers - Transactional message processing
Share Groups - New queue-like consumption pattern
Enhanced Monitoring - Built-in lag tracking
Cloud-Native Patterns - Container-ready consumers

Consumer Evolution Since 2017

✅ Smoother Rebalancing - Incremental cooperative protocol
✅ Better Performance - Optimized fetch and poll
✅ Improved Reliability - Automatic offset management
✅ Enhanced Observability - Detailed metrics and tracing

Ready to build modern Kafka consumers? Let’s create production-ready consumers that can handle millions of messages reliably!

Kafka Tutorial: Creating a Kafka Producer in Java - 2025 Edition

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

Idempotence by Default - Exactly-once semantics standard
KRaft Mode - No ZooKeeper configuration needed
Modern Java - Java 17+ with records and lambdas
Cloud-Native Patterns - Producer pools and async best practices
Enhanced Security - mTLS, OAuth, and fine-grained ACLs
Performance Tuning - Optimized batching and compression

Producer Evolution Since 2017

✅ Simplified Configuration - Smart defaults for production
✅ Better Error Handling - Automatic retries with idempotence
✅ Improved Monitoring - Built-in metrics and interceptors
✅ Transaction Support - Multi-partition atomic writes

Ready to build a high-performance Kafka producer? Let’s create a production-ready Java producer with all the modern best practices!

AWS Cassandra 2025: Cassandra 5.0, NUMA, and Graviton4 Performance Guide

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

Graviton4 Processors: Up to 40% faster than Graviton3 for databases, 192 cores at 2.8 GHz
NUMA Evolution: Two-socket NUMA memory clustering on Graviton4 for improved performance
Cassandra 5.0: Enhanced NUMA awareness with improved memory management
Instance Types: New R8g, X8g, C8g, M8g, I8g instances with better NUMA support
Performance Gains: 30-40% improvement over x86 for Cassandra workloads

Major Architecture Changes

Single NUMA Domain: Graviton3 maintains single NUMA domain simplicity
Dual NUMA Support: Graviton4 introduces two-socket NUMA clustering
Memory Bandwidth: Improved memory controller performance across generations
Core Density: Up to 192 physical cores per instance (R8g.48xlarge)
ARM Optimization: Better Java performance on ARM architecture

AWS Cassandra 2025 and NUMA Architecture

In 2025, AWS has significantly evolved its NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) support with Graviton4 processors. Understanding NUMA is crucial for optimizing Cassandra 5.0 performance on modern EC2 instances.

AWS Cassandra Cluster Tutorial 5 (2025): Modern Cassandra Deployment with CDK, EKS, and Infrastructure as Code

Cassandra Cluster Tutorial 5 (2025) - Modern AWS Cassandra Deployment with CDK, EKS, and Infrastructure as Code

This Cassandra tutorial is designed for developers and DevOps/SRE teams who want to deploy production-ready Cassandra clusters in AWS using modern practices and tools available in 2025.

What’s New in 2025

The landscape of deploying Cassandra on AWS has evolved significantly:

AWS CDK v2 has become the standard for infrastructure as code, offering type-safe infrastructure definitions
Kubernetes operators like K8ssandra provide production-ready Cassandra deployments
AWS Graviton3 processors offer 40% better price-performance for Cassandra workloads
Container-based deployments are now the norm, with EKS Anywhere for hybrid deployments
Service mesh integration with AWS App Mesh provides advanced traffic management
AWS Systems Manager replaces bastion hosts for secure access
GitOps workflows with AWS CodeCommit and FluxCD for infrastructure management

Cloudurable provides Cassandra training, Cassandra consulting, Cassandra support and helps setting up Cassandra clusters in AWS.

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Cassandra 5.0 AWS CPU Requirements: Graviton4, ZGC, and Performance Optimization

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

Cassandra 5.0: Enhanced CPU utilization with improved compaction and streaming
Graviton4 Processors: 40% better performance for database workloads
ZGC Integration: Low-latency garbage collection for improved response times
Instance Types: New I8g, R8g, C8g families optimized for Cassandra workloads
Compaction Improvements: Better concurrent compactor defaults and tuning

Major Performance Enhancements

Unified Compaction: Reduced CPU overhead in Cassandra 5.0
Vector Search: CPU-intensive operations requiring additional cores
Streaming Performance: Improved parallel processing for data migration
Memory Management: Better allocation strategies reducing CPU pressure
ARM Optimization: Native ARM64 support for Graviton processors

Cassandra 5.0 CPU Requirements in AWS Cloud

Cassandra 5.0 is highly concurrent and can utilize as many CPU cores as available when configured correctly. Understanding CPU requirements is crucial for optimal performance on AWS EC2 instances.

Cassandra 5.0 AWS Storage Requirements: GP3, I4g Instances, and Performance Optimization

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

EBS GP3 Volumes: 20% cost savings over GP2 with independent IOPS/throughput scaling
I4g Instances: Graviton2-powered with 30TB NVMe, 15% better compute performance
I4i vs I4g: 45-60% lower cost per TB with Im4gn/Is4gen families
Unified Compaction: Cassandra 5.0 reduces storage overhead and improves I/O patterns
EBS Optimization: Enhanced throughput up to 80 Gbps on latest instance types

Storage Performance Improvements

GP3 Baseline: 3,000 IOPS and 125 MiB/s regardless of volume size
GP3 Maximum: Up to 16,000 IOPS and 1,000 MiB/s (4x faster than GP2 max)
NVMe Performance: I4g delivers up to 7.6 million IOPS per instance
EBS Elastic Volumes: Live migration between volume types without downtime
Storage Classes: New archive and deep archive tiers for long-term retention

Cassandra 5.0 AWS Storage Requirements

Cassandra 5.0 performs extensive sequential disk I/O for commit logs and SSTable writes, while requiring random I/O for read operations. The enhanced Unified Compaction strategy in Cassandra 5.0 provides more predictable I/O patterns and reduced storage overhead.

Cassandra 5.0 Cluster Setup 2025: Docker, Vagrant, and Cloud-Native DevOps

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

Cassandra 5.0: Vector search, SAI indexes, unified compaction strategy
Container-First: Docker and Kubernetes have replaced most Vagrant workflows
Cloud-Native: Multi-cloud deployment with infrastructure as code
ARM Support: Native ARM64 support for Apple Silicon and AWS Graviton
Observability: Enhanced monitoring with OpenTelemetry and Prometheus

Major Platform Evolution

Docker Compose: Simplified multi-container orchestration
Kubernetes: Production-ready Cassandra operators
Testcontainers: Integration testing with ephemeral containers
Colima/Podman: Docker alternatives for development
GitOps: Infrastructure managed through Git workflows

The modern approach to Cassandra cluster development has evolved significantly since 2017. While Vagrant remains useful for certain scenarios, container-based development has become the standard for 2025.

Cassandra 5.0 Cluster Tutorial 2025: Ansible Automation for DevOps Tasks

in ansible

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

Cassandra 5.0: Storage Attached Indexes (SAI), Vector Search, Unified Compaction
Ansible 2.19: Event-driven automation, enhanced cloud integrations
VirtualBox Compatibility: Use 6.1.x with Vagrant 2.4.1 for stability
Security First: Ansible Vault and external secret managers now standard
Infrastructure as Code: Git-based workflows with Ansible Collections

Deprecated Features

Cassandra 3.x is end-of-life
Legacy Ansible inventory formats
Manual SSH key management (use automation)
Static inventories for cloud environments

Cassandra Tutorial: Setting up Ansible for our Cassandra Database Cluster for DevOps/DBA tasks

Ansible is a key DevOps/DBA tool for managing backups and rolling upgrades to the Cassandra cluster in AWS/EC2. Ansible uses ssh, so you do not have to install an agent to use it. In 2025, Ansible remains the preferred automation tool with improved event-driven capabilities.

Cassandra AWS System Memory Guidelines 2025: Optimizing for Modern Hardware and Workloads

System Memory Guidelines for Cassandra AWS - 2025 Edition

What’s New in 2025

The Cassandra memory landscape has evolved significantly:

Modern JVMs - Java 21 LTS with ZGC and Shenandoah GC offer sub-millisecond pause times
AWS Graviton3 - ARM-based processors with DDR5 memory provide 50% better memory bandwidth
Larger heap sizes - Modern GCs handle 100GB+ heaps efficiently
Container deployments - Memory management in Kubernetes requires different approaches
Persistent memory - Intel Optane and similar technologies blur the line between RAM and storage
Tiered storage - Hot data in memory, warm in NVMe, cold in S3
Vector search workloads - New memory requirements for AI/ML applications

Cloudurable provides Cassandra training, Cassandra consulting, Cassandra support and helps setting up Cassandra clusters in AWS.

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Cassandra Tutorial 3, Part 1: Deploy Cassandra with Ansible and SSH Keys - Modern DevOps Practices 2025

By Rick Hightower in tutorials

Cassandra Tutorial 3, Part 1: Modern Cassandra Deployment with Ansible - 2025 Edition

What’s New in 2025

This updated tutorial reflects the significant changes in DevOps practices since our original 2017 guide:

Container-First Approach: Cassandra deployments now primarily use containers (Docker/Podman)
Kubernetes Native: StatefulSets and operators for managing Cassandra clusters
GitOps Workflows: Using ArgoCD or Flux for declarative cluster management
Modern Ansible: Ansible 2.16+ with collections and execution environments
Enhanced Security: Zero-trust networking, service mesh integration, and secrets management
Cloud Provider Integration: Native support for AWS, GCP, and Azure Kubernetes services
Observability: Built-in Prometheus metrics and distributed tracing

Overview

In this modernized tutorial, we’ll deploy a production-ready Cassandra cluster using:

Cassandra Tutorial 3, Part 2: Advanced Ansible Automation and Cloud-Native Operations - 2025 Edition

By Rick Hightower in tutorials

Cassandra Tutorial 3, Part 2: Advanced Operations and Automation - 2025 Edition

What’s New Since Part 1

Building on Part 1’s foundation, this tutorial covers:

Multi-Cloud Deployments: Spanning AWS, GCP, and Azure
Advanced GitOps: Multi-environment promotion workflows
AI-Powered Operations: Using ML for capacity planning and anomaly detection
Chaos Engineering: Automated failure testing with Litmus
FinOps Integration: Cost optimization and resource management
Zero-Downtime Operations: Rolling upgrades and blue-green deployments

Advanced Ansible Automation

Ansible Execution Environments (2025 Standard)

Create a containerized Ansible environment:

Cloud DevOps 2025: Packer, Ansible, SSH and AWS/EC2

in ansible

What’s New in 2025

Key Updates and Changes

New EC2 Instance Types: M7i, C7i, and R7i families now available with up to 15% better price-performance
Packer Updates: Version 1.11 with predictable plugin loading and HCP integration
Ansible Best Practices: Enhanced aws_ec2 plugin with improved security and performance features
EBS Volume Evolution: GP3 volumes now standard, offering 20% cost savings over GP2
HashiCorp Updates: Terraform AWS Provider 6.0 with multi-region support
Security Enhancements: AWS Verified Access for SSH/RDP, enhanced IAM with ECR Policy v2

Deprecated Features and Migration Notes

GP2 to GP3 Migration: GP2 volumes should be migrated to GP3 for cost savings
EC2 Dynamic Inventory: Old ec2.py script deprecated in favor of aws_ec2 plugin
Instance Types: Consider upgrading from M6i to M7i instances for better performance
Packer AWS Builder: Continue using amazon-ebs builder with updated authentication methods

Cloud DevOps: Using Packer, Ansible/SSH and AWS command line tools to create and DBA manage EC2 Cassandra instances in AWS.

This article is useful for developers and DevOps/DBA staff who want to create AWS AMI images and manage those EC2 instances with Ansible. Although this article is part of a series about setting up the Cassandra Database images and doing DevOps/DBA with Cassandra clusters, the topics we cover apply to AWS DevOps in general - even if you don’t use Cassandra at all.

High-Speed Microservices 2025: Building Ultra-Low Latency Services in the Cloud Native Era

in Microservices

High-Speed Microservices 2025: Building Ultra-Low Latency Services in the Cloud Native Era

What’s New in 2025

The high-speed microservices landscape has transformed dramatically:

Virtual Threads (Project Loom) - Java 21’s virtual threads eliminate the need for complex async code
GraalVM Native Images - Sub-millisecond startup times and 10x memory reduction
WebAssembly (WASM) - Near-native performance with language agnosticism
eBPF - Kernel-level observability without performance overhead
Hardware acceleration - DPUs and SmartNICs offload network processing
Edge computing - Microservices at the edge with 5G and IoT
Quantum-safe cryptography - Preparing for post-quantum security
AI-powered optimization - Machine learning for auto-scaling and performance tuning

Cloudurable provides Microservices consulting, Kubernetes training, and cloud native architecture services to help organizations build high-performance systems.

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Kafka Tutorial: Using Kafka from the Command Line - 2025 Edition

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

KRaft Mode - No more ZooKeeper! Using Kafka’s native consensus
Kafka 4.0 - Latest version with simplified operations
Updated Commands - Modern CLI syntax and options
Cloud Options - Quick start with Docker and cloud services
Performance Tools - New monitoring and testing utilities

Key Improvements Since 2017

✅ Single Process - Kafka runs standalone with KRaft
✅ Faster Startup - Seconds instead of minutes
✅ Simpler Config - Fewer configuration files
✅ Better Defaults - Production-ready out of the box

Ready to get hands-on with Kafka? Let’s start from the command line and see Kafka 4.0 in action!

Kafka vs. JMS, RabbitMQ, SQS, and Modern Messaging - 2025 Edition

in kafka

🚀 What’s New in This 2025 Update

Major Updates and Changes

Kafka Beyond Messaging - Complete event streaming platform
Cloud-Native First - Managed services dominate deployments
KRaft Mode - ZooKeeper completely eliminated
Performance Gap Widened - Kafka processes millions/sec
Cost Models Evolved - Consumption-based pricing prevalent
New Competitors - Pulsar, Redpanda, WarpStream emerging

Industry Shifts Since 2017

✅ Event Streaming Standard - Kafka dominates real-time data
✅ Serverless Integration - Native cloud functions support
✅ Multi-Protocol Support - Beyond just publish-subscribe
✅ Managed Services - Self-hosting becoming rare

Ready to understand how Kafka compares to modern messaging systems? Let’s explore when to use each technology in today’s architectures.

Kafka, Avro Serialization and the Schema Registry - 2025 Edition

in Schema Registry