DataStax today unveiled a private beta release of artificial intelligence tool dubbed Vector that provides advice on how to optimize clusters running the open source Cassandra wide column store database.
Vector analyzes individual nodes and then compares behavior to other nodes in the cluster to identify opportunities to improve deployments.
Ed Anuff, chief product officer for DataStax, said the goal is to enable IT teams to take advantage of AIOps for things such as improving performance and query techniques.
Available for both instances of Cassandra downloaded by IT teams as well as the curated instance of Cassandra that DataStax makes available as DataStax Enterprise, Vector is intended to augment rather than replace IT teams managing Cassandra databases, said Anuff.
Anuff said by employing algorithms and heuristics, Vector provides IT teams with predictive guidance, which they can determine whether to implement or not.
As IT becomes more complex the need to rely on AIOps tools such as Vector is becoming more pronounced. The number of variables that could adversely impact the performance of applications deployed on Cassandra or any other database exceeds the ability of most IT teams to monitor manually. AIOps tools such as Vector essentially provide IT teams with a digital assistant to help optimize database deployments.
Anuff said there will always be a need for a human to be in the loop, but each IT organization will determine the degree it trusts the recommendations being surfaced by AIOps tools such as Vector. In some cases, IT teams will use those recommendations to inform frameworks to automate the management of databases.
Given the commitment to ruthless automation by IT organizations that have embraced DevOps, Anuff said DataStax expects DevOps teams to be at the forefront of embracing AIOps. In many cases, those DevOps teams have already assumed management responsibilities for both applications and the underlying databases on which they depend.
Of course, AIOps is still in its infancy. However, in the wake of the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic interest in AIOps as a means to reduce the total cost of IT is rising. Many IT teams are becoming smaller as organizations downsize, while others are limiting headcount. AIOps provides a way to manage IT at scale without necessarily having to expand the size of the current IT staff.
Regardless of the motivation, AIOps is here to stay. Many of the rote tasks that conspire to turn IT into drudgery should soon be eliminated. That may reduce the number of entry-level jobs that historically have been available. However, as schools adjust to this new reality, it may also mean that new entrants into the field may be able to take on more complex challenges sooner than later.
In the meantime, IT professionals might want to consider what part of their job might be better handled by a machine and plan the next step in their careers accordingly.
