DataStax launches DataStax Constellation designed for Apache Cassandra

On Tuesday, $967 million data management startup DataStax launched DataStax Constellation, a new cloud platform.

DataStax says this is the first cloud that's designed for Apache Cassandra —an open source database project that started at Facebook, and is used by companies like Instagram, Reddit, Netflix, and more.

Business Insider recently reported that two top executives at DataStax will be leaving the company, amid a reorganization that comes ahead of a rumored IPO.

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The $967 million startup DataStax just launched a new cloud platform built for Apache Cassandra — a popular, Facebook-created database software project that's used by companies like Instagram, Reddit, Netflix, and more.

This new cloud platform, which DataStax announced Tuesday, is called DataStax Constellation. It's DataStax's cloud platform, for developers to use as they wish, in the same way that Amazon Web Services belongs to the retail giant.

“It's a long term vision for our next evolution for the company,” DataStax CEO Billy Bosworth told Business Insider. “It's probably the closest thing you've seen to magic in a long time.”

It's a big step for DataStax, which has, to date, worked on creating and selling an enterprise-grade version of Cassandra for businesses. Because Cassandra is open source, it means that anyone, including DataStax, can download it and modify the code to their heart's content, all for free.

With Constellation, DataStax is offering a cloud platform with services that allow developers to develop and deploy Cassandra applications to any cloud they want. In this way, Bosworth said, it's aiming at a much more narrow and specific use than Amazon's cloud or Microsoft's, and will so avoid going toe-to-toe with them in a meaningful way.

Constellation will include two services: DataStax Apache Cassandra-as-a-Service and DataStax Insights. With Cassandra-as-a-Service, developers can deploy apps that are built on Cassandra to the cloud, plus features for backup, security, and the like. Developers can use Insights for managing and monitoring their applications, whether they run on the web, on smartphones, or even on internet-connected devices.

DataStax, which was last privately valued at $967 million, is said to be planning to go public this year at a valuation of as much as $1 billion.

DataStax has already partnered with Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure so that developers can build and deploy applications that run across its own Constellation, as well as those other cloud platforms. That integration will be available on Amazon Web Services. later this year.

Business Insider reported Tuesday that two top executives at DataStax will be leaving the company, amid a reorganization of the executive team.

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