IBM is planning to acquire DataStax, a company that provides NoSQL database solutions, in an effort to accelerate the development of production AI and NoSQL data at scale. The acquisition aims to help organizations migrate their applications from Apache Cassandra to Astra DB, a new database service offered by IBM, without experiencing any downtime or interruption to users. To facilitate this migration, DataStax has developed tools such as the Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) Proxy, which bridges operational database traffic between Cassandra and Astra DB, allowing data to be moved in an offline manner. The ZDM Proxy is configured with credentials that enable it to communicate with both databases, and its configuration requires the use of IBM's Astra token. The migration process involves connecting the application to the ZDM Proxy, specifying the proxy's IP address along with port 14002, and verifying various connection properties before cutover. While the process can be complex, DataStax has developed tools and resources to ease the migration, including a Modernize Apache Cassandra Workloads page for developers looking to migrate their applications.