Item: DataStax Enterprise
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

DataStax Enterprise is the primary database for all transactional processing. DataStax Enterprise provides linear scale as well as multi-datacenter real-time replication of data such that we can maintain uptime even with the loss of multiple data centers. Keeping the system up and the data fresh is of paramount importance for our clients. Performance is also top of mind and DataStax Enterprise delivers best-in-class performance.

Pros and Cons

Scaling
Speed of data access
Ease of use with those familiar with traditional SQL
Best in class support team

Hybrid on-prem / cloud solution with Astra.
Better compatibility with prior versions in terms of codebase.

Return on Investment

Ability to have our services up and running even with a total outage at one of our data centers.
No need to maintain windows since we can turn off data centers while doing maintenance and then put them back in the rotation and move on.
If not keeping current with updates, updating from an older major version to a newer major version can be a bit complicated and time-consuming but DataStax Enterprise support will help with this.

Alternatives Considered

Couchbase and Azure Cosmos DB

I believe DataStax Enterprise is the best in class. There are some things that are different with the schema-less systems but I found DataStax Enterprise easiest to implement while evaluating. The replication is on par or better than others in practice. We are evaluating Astra in our test environment and that has additional benefits we are looking forward to using.

Key Insights

Do you think DataStax Enterprise delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with DataStax Enterprise's feature set?

Yes

Did DataStax Enterprise live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of DataStax Enterprise go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy DataStax Enterprise again?

Yes

Other Software Used

MySQL, Apache Tomcat, Oracle Java SE, Microsoft Power BI

Usability

There is a bit of a learning curve and tasks that are simple in traditional RDBMS systems can be complicated with DataStax Enterprise but once you get the hang of denormalizing data and getting the data model correct DataStax Enterprise is very usable. Usability from the developer's standpoint is very simple - the complication is on the architecture side with the data model.

Support Rating

We have had a few situations where we caused an outage or something has gone wrong and we are able to get a support person to offer live help within minutes. The escalation process is excellent - the best I've seen - and the support team is incredibly strong. Outside of emergencies, the team is very helpful with general questions and working through data model exercises and the subscription I believe still comes with some hours to help get the data model reviewed.

Likelihood to Recommend

Real-time transaction processing (both reads and writes) is where DataStax Enterprise shines. It's very fast with linear scalability should more resources be needed. Additional nodes are added very easily. DataStax Enterprise on its own (without Solr or Spark enabled) isn't well suited for long complicated reports. The data model doesn't support joining multiple tables together which is common in BI reporting.

DataStax Enterprise Best In Class

Overall Satisfaction with DataStax Enterprise