Google Cloud for Cassandra Training [For Free]

One of the best ways to learn Cassandra is to use Google Cloud for Cassandra Training.  At the time of writing this post, when you set up a google cloud account at Google Cloud Console you will receive 150 euros in free credit to be used over the space of a year.  This is enough credit to allow you to set up multiple nodes and clusters in your Cassandra learning journey.

In this post, I will show you how to set up a single node using Google Cloud for Cassandra Training which you can then duplicate to create a cluster ready for your C* installation.

Google Cloud Setup

OS=CentOS 7
Hostname=cass-node-1
SSD=10GB

1. 1. Use your google account to sign in or create a new one.
   2. When you log in you will be asked to update the terms of service.

      

   3. You will notice that in the header bar you are given the following message: “Your free trial is waiting: activate now to get $300 credit to explore Google Cloud products” 
   4. Activate this by clicking the blue button.
      • $300 credit for free. Sign up and get $300 to spend on Google Cloud Platform over the next 12 months.
      • No auto charge after the free trial ends.  We ask you for your credit card to make sure you are not a robot. You won’t be charged unless you manually upgrade to a paid account.
   5. The important piece of information here is that you WILL NOT be charged unless you manually upgrade your account, therefore its safe to add your credit or debit card info.
   6. Fill in all the account information and click Start my free trial
   7. And we’re in…

      

   8. On the left-hand menu find “Compute Engine” and click on “VM”
   9. Hit “Create”

      

   10. I have added the following details to create my node.
       • Name = cass-node-1
       • Region = London
       • Zone = Europe-west2-a
       • 1 vCPU
       • centOS 7 as the OS
       • Gave it 10GB of SSD storage
       • Kept the default Service account
       • Allowed all HTTP traffic

1. Click create and the magic happens.
2. Once the VM is created it will be started, click on SSH to open a session to the newly created server, how exciting!!

   

3. You can sudo su – to get to root user.

   • sudo su –

   

Why we should use Google Cloud for Cassandra Training

So there we have it, using Google Cloud for Cassandra Training is very easy.  We have our first “cass-node”, there is nothing on it now only the OS, we need to set it up ready for our software, that’s what we will do in our next tutorial.

Remember to “STOP” you VM’s when you are finished testing or training otherwise you will use up your free credit very quickly.  Also, remember, you will never be charged unless you upgrade your account.

Next Step

Now we have our server up and running its time to Install Cassandra.