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Hello, my name is Guy Shtub, and I’m the Head of Training at ScyllaDB. Welcome to ScyllaDB University and to the Essentials course.
This course covers the basics of ScyllaDB and how to use it. It’s the foundation for more advanced courses.
This course is designed for Application Developers, Architects, and DBAs who would like to better understand the core concepts of ScyllaDB and the way that it works.
By the end of this course, you will gain knowledge about how to use ScyllaDB, the basic architecture, the data model, and you’ll get some hands-on experience with actually running ScyllaDB.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with ScyllaDB, it is the database for data-intensive applications that require high throughput and predicable low latencies. It’s used by gamechanging organizations whose success depends on delivering engaging experiences with impressive speed. For example, Discord, Disney+ Hotstar, Palo Alto Networks, ShareChat are some examples of the most extreme scale. And ScyllaDB is used by many smaller rapidly-growing organizations as well.
ScyllaDB was built with a close-to-the-metal design that squeezes every possible ounce of performance out of modern infrastructure. This allows teams to increase database throughput, achieve lower and more predictable P99 latencies, and reduce the total cost of ownership.
So what are some of the key attributes of ScyllaDB?
High Availability – the system remains highly accessible for operations even if one or more nodes are down or if there is a network failure.
Scalability – the system scales horizontally (by adding more nodes) as well as vertically (by making optimal use of modern hardware). It’s possible to add and remove nodes as the system is running, without any down time.
High Performance – the system runs as close to the hardware as possible to deliver low and consistent latency as well as very high throughput. To get an idea, when compared to other databases, it offers up to ten times higher throughput, up to 1 million read/write operations per node, along with low and consistent latency.
Low Maintenance – The system includes ease-of-use features, such as auto-tuning capabilities and automated facilities.
ScyllaDB is API compatible with Apache Cassandra and DynamoDB. That means that if you have an existing application written for Cassandra or for DynamoDB, you can use your application pretty much as it is and only change the endpoint configuration to have it work with ScyllaDB instead of with Cassandra or DynamoDB. Not only will you get better, consistent performance at a reduced cost, but it will also be easier to maintain and scale. Additionally, if migrating from DynamoDB you’ll also avoid vendor lock-in as ScyllaDB can be run on different cloud platforms as well as on prem.
A few words about ScyllaDB Cloud, our managed database as a service offering.
More and more users are choosing this option so that they can leave the database administration to us and focus on their core business. We take care of backups, performance, security, upgrades and so on.
You can get a free trial cluster. You’ll be able to run most of the hands-on labs you see here today on that cluster.
Once you complete this course, as well as other courses on ScyllaDB University, you’ll get a certificate of completion which you can post on your Linkedin profile.
ScyllaDB is open-source software and has been licensed under the AGPL since day one. It’s backed by a vibrant, growing community of contributors.
The course starts with an introduction to NoSQL in general and specifically to ScyllaDB. This part covers:
The CAP theorem
Different NoSQL data models and where ScyllaDB fits in
The design principles of ScyllaDB
ScyllaDB flavors
and an intro to the ScyllaDB Architecture
After the introduction, we’ll dive right in. You’ll see how easy it is to set up and run ScyllaDB, using docker and also using ScyllaDB Cloud, our managed database as a service option. You’ll perform some basic database queries. This is a hands-on part and you’ll learn by actually setting up a cluster and performing some queries.
After that, there’s a High Availability lesson, explaining topics like data replication, the replication factor and consistency levels. You’ll see how ScyllaDB offers high availability while maintaining consistency. This lesson also includes hands-on labs where you’ll have a chance to put what you learned into practice. In the lab part of the lesson, you will start a three node Cluster, and perform read and write queries with different consistency levels while simulating a situation where some of the nodes are unavailable.
Finally, the last lessson talks about the basics of the ScyllaDB architecture. Here you’ll learn about the different database components, how they interact, and what happens in the database when a read or write query is performed. Most of the concepts you’ll see in this course are also relevant for Apache Cassandra and many apply to DynamoDB as well. That’s because ScyllaDB is compatible with both Cassandra and DynamoDB
The ScyllaDB community slack channel and the community forum are great places to discuss all ScyllaDB related topics.
In the forum you can ask questions, learn how others are using ScyllaDB, and network with your peers. Please visit it and say hello in the link below.
Thank you, and enjoy learning!
