MCQs on Installation and Setup | Cassandra

Chapter 3 of Cassandra focuses on the installation process, both locally and in the cloud, as well as the essential configuration required to set up a Cassandra cluster. This chapter also dives into managing Cassandra nodes and introduces key tools like cqlsh and nodetool to effectively interact with and monitor the database system.

MCQs

Topic 1: Cassandra Installation (Local and Cloud)

1. Cassandra is typically installed using which package manager on Linux?
   a) apt-get
   b) yum
   c) pacman
   d) brew
2. What is the first step in installing Cassandra locally?
   a) Configuring network settings
   b) Installing Java
   c) Creating a cluster
   d) Installing Python
3. Which cloud platform supports native Cassandra deployment through managed services?
   a) AWS
   b) Google Cloud
   c) Microsoft Azure
   d) All of the above
4. What is the main prerequisite for installing Cassandra on a local machine?
   a) Apache Kafka
   b) JDK (Java Development Kit)
   c) Docker
   d) Python
5. Which of the following tools is often used to manage Cassandra on cloud platforms?
   a) kubectl
   b) CloudFormation
   c) Amazon EC2
   d) cassandra-cloud
6. What is the recommended operating system for running Cassandra locally?
   a) Windows
   b) Linux
   c) macOS
   d) Ubuntu
7. In a local installation, what directory is typically used for storing Cassandra data files?
   a) /data/cassandra
   b) /var/lib/cassandra
   c) /home/cassandra
   d) /opt/cassandra
8. When installing Cassandra on AWS, which service helps in scaling the cluster?
   a) Amazon S3
   b) Amazon EC2
   c) Amazon RDS
   d) Amazon Elastic Load Balancer

Topic 2: Cassandra Cluster Setup

9. A Cassandra cluster is made up of multiple:
   a) Nodes
   b) Databases
   c) Containers
   d) Virtual machines
10. In a Cassandra cluster, what is the role of a node?
    a) To store data and serve client requests
    b) To manage network traffic
    c) To authenticate users
    d) To monitor system performance
11. What is the default number of replicas in Cassandra for a cluster with RF=3 (Replication Factor)?
    a) 1
    b) 2
    c) 3
    d) 4
12. What does the term “vnode” mean in Cassandra?
    a) A virtual node to enable dynamic scaling
    b) A virtual machine in the cluster
    c) A version of the node software
    d) A type of network storage
13. Which file must be edited to configure the initial cluster settings in Cassandra?
    a) cassandra.yaml
    b) cluster.conf
    c) nodetool.conf
    d) cassandra.conf
14. How does Cassandra ensure high availability across multiple nodes in a cluster?
    a) Replication factor and partitioning
    b) Backup processes
    c) Using an external cache
    d) Data compression
15. Which network protocol does Cassandra use to communicate between nodes in the cluster?
    a) HTTP
    b) Thrift
    c) Gossip
    d) TCP/IP
16. In Cassandra, what is the term used for the distribution of data across nodes?
    a) Sharding
    b) Partitioning
    c) Clustering
    d) Replication

Topic 3: Configuration Files Overview

17. Which configuration file in Cassandra is used to define settings such as cluster name and node IP?
    a) cassandra.yaml
    b) cassandra.conf
    c) cassandra-settings.conf
    d) config.yaml
18. The seeds parameter in Cassandra configuration refers to:
    a) Initial nodes to contact to join the cluster
    b) Backup data directories
    c) Reserved storage space
    d) Encryption keys
19. Which section of the cassandra.yaml file defines the data storage directories?
    a) storage_config
    b) data_file_directories
    c) node_storage
    d) storage_paths
20. The listen_address setting in Cassandra refers to:
    a) The address where Cassandra listens for client connections
    b) The IP address for inter-node communication
    c) The address for external API calls
    d) The URL for Cassandra documentation
21. The endpoint_snitch setting in Cassandra configuration determines:
    a) How nodes are identified within a cluster
    b) Which data centers to use for replication
    c) The communication protocol for nodes
    d) The partition key for data storage
22. Which file is essential for setting up security credentials in Cassandra?
    a) cassandra-security.yaml
    b) cassandra-users.conf
    c) cassandra.yaml
    d) cassandra-auth.conf
23. To specify the logging level for Cassandra, which configuration file is edited?
    a) logback.xml
    b) cassandra.yaml
    c) cassandra-log.conf
    d) logging.yaml
24. The rpc_address setting in Cassandra is used to configure:
    a) The address for client communication
    b) The address for internal node communication
    c) The remote procedure call ports
    d) The administrative console

Topic 4: Starting and Managing Cassandra Nodes

25. To start Cassandra manually on a local node, which command is used?
    a) start-cassandra
    b) cassandra-start
    c) bin/cassandra -f
    d) cassandra -start
26. To stop a running Cassandra node, which command should be used?
    a) stop-cassandra
    b) cassandra -stop
    c) nodetool stop
    d) bin/cassandra stop
27. Which of the following is a key benefit of using nodetool?
    a) To manage SSL certificates
    b) To monitor and manage Cassandra nodes
    c) To define partition keys
    d) To deploy updates
28. If a Cassandra node becomes unresponsive, which tool would you use to check its status?
    a) nodetool
    b) cqlsh
    c) cassandra-check
    d) nodetool-check
29. What command in nodetool helps in checking the status of all nodes in a cluster?
    a) status
    b) node-status
    c) status-ring
    d) node-info
30. To repair a Cassandra node and synchronize data across nodes, which command is used?
    a) repair
    b) sync
    c) restore
    d) cleanup

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