Deploy a Multi-Datacenter Apache Cassandra Cluster in Kubernetes (Pt. 1)

The Get Started examples on the K8ssandra site are primarily concerned with spinning up a single Apache Cassandra™ datacenter in a single Kubernetes cluster. However, there are many situations that can benefit from other deployment options. In this series of posts, we’ll examine different deployment patterns and show how to implement them using K8ssandra.

Flexible Topologies With Cassandra

From its earliest days, Cassandra has included the ability to assign nodes to datacenters and racks. A rack was originally conceived as mapping to a single rack of servers connected to shared resources, like power, network, and cooling. A datacenter could consist of multiple racks with physical separation. These constructs allowed developers to create high-availability deployments by replicating data across different fault domains. This ensured that Cassandra clusters remain operational amid failures ranging from a single physical server, rack, to an entire datacenter facility.