October 26, 2026 · RapidMindLabs
An ALTER TABLE is thirty characters of CQL and one of the few operations that can split a running cluster's view of itself. How schema propagation works today, the DDL that is safe and the DDL that is not, and how Transactional Cluster Metadata in the 5.x line removes the class of problem.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2026 · RapidMindLabs
Dual writes, backfill, shadow reads, cutover, rollback. A practical sequence for moving a production Cassandra or DSE keyspace to Astra DB without a maintenance window — and the failure modes each step is designed to catch.
Read moreSeptember 11, 2026 · RapidMindLabs
The multi-DC expansion runbook: NetworkTopologyStrategy changes, nodetool rebuild, the auth keyspace everyone forgets, and the exact order that keeps reads correct while the new DC is still empty.
Read moreJune 16, 2026
Cassandra 5 is worth the move — UCS, vector types, better indexes — but major upgrades reward ceremony. The pre-flight checks, rolling procedure, and rollback criteria we use on real clusters.
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