Apache Cassandra 2.2 – Bootstrapping performance improvements for Leveled Compaction

Apache Cassandra 2.2 introduces an exciting feature for users of LeveledCompactionStrategy (LCS). When bootstrapping a new node, LCS requires re-leveling the data which can take days to complete due to many pending compactions. However, CASSANDRA-7460 addresses this issue by re-using the level of each source SSTable streamed to the new node. This means that instead of days of compacting after adding a new node, there will be zero compactions. The process involves regular cluster writes during bootstrap ending up in level 0 upon flush and passing the level as part of streaming is only used for bootstrapping or node replacement scenarios.