If you have ever needed a database that handles millions of writes per second with predictable single-digit millisecond latency, ScyllaDB is built for exactly that. This ScyllaDB tutorial shows you how to get it running locally with Docker, create your first keyspace and table, insert data, query it, and connect from Python, all in a single session. No prior Cassandra experience needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ScyllaDB is an open-source distributed NoSQL database written in C++. It is API-compatible with Apache Cassandra, meaning any application built for Cassandra works with ScyllaDB without code changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The key difference is performance. ScyllaDB is designed to squeeze maximum throughput from modern hardware with high-core CPUs and fast SSDs. It achieves this through a shard-per-core architecture where each CPU core owns its own data shard and handles its own I\/O independently, eliminating the lock contention that limits Cassandra’s throughput.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ScyllaDB is the right choice when you need low-latency reads and writes at scale for time-series<\/a> data, IoT<\/a> streams, user event logs, or real-time analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ScyllaDB fits naturally into high-performance backend stacks for real-time applications, IoT systems, and event-driven architectures. HCL GUVI’s Full Stack Development Course<\/a> and AI Software Development Course<\/a> are both IITM Pravartak certified and build the backend engineering depth that makes databases like ScyllaDB practical to work with in production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Run ScyllaDB locally with one command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n docker run –name scylla -d -p 9042:9042 scylladb\/scylla –smp 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The –smp 1<\/strong> flag limits ScyllaDB to one CPU core, which is important for local development to avoid consuming all available system resources. Without it, ScyllaDB claims every core it finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wait about 30 seconds for the node to fully start, then confirm it is ready:<\/p>\n\n\n\n docker exec -it scylla nodetool status<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you see UN<\/strong> (Up, Normal) in the status column, ScyllaDB is running and ready to accept connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n cqlsh is the interactive CQL shell bundled with ScyllaDB. Open it with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n docker exec -it scylla cqlsh<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You should see a cqlsh><\/strong> prompt. This is where you run all CQL commands interactively. If you get a connection refused error, wait a few more seconds and try again, the node may still be starting up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A keyspace in ScyllaDB is the equivalent of a database in relational systems. It groups related tables together and defines the replication strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sql<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PRIMARY KEY<\/strong> here has two parts. user_id<\/strong> is the partition key, which determines which node stores the row. event_time<\/strong> is the clustering key, which controls how rows are sorted within a partition. Ordering by event_time DESC<\/strong> means the most recent events are always at the top of a scan, which is perfect for time-series queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insert a few rows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sql <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Query all events for a specific user:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sql<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ScyllaDB always requires the partition key in WHERE clauses for efficient queries. Filtering without it triggers a full cluster scan which is slow and expensive at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Install the Cassandra-compatible Python driver, which works with ScyllaDB directly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n pip install cassandra-driver<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Connect and run queries from Python:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Python<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because ScyllaDB is API-compatible with Cassandra, the cassandra-driver<\/strong> package works with ScyllaDB without any modification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ScyllaDB tutorial covered the full beginner workflow: running ScyllaDB with Docker, connecting with cqlsh, creating a keyspace and table with a well-structured primary key, inserting and querying data, and connecting from Python. ScyllaDB’s combination of Cassandra compatibility, C++ performance, and a free open-source license makes it one of the strongest choices for high-throughput, low-latency workloads in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ScyllaDB is a free, open-source distributed NoSQL database written in C++ that is API-compatible with Apache Cassandra but delivers significantly higher throughput and lower latency through a shard-per-core architecture.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Yes. The ScyllaDB open-source edition is free under the AGPL license. ScyllaDB also offers a managed cloud service with a free trial.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n No. ScyllaDB uses CQL, the same Cassandra Query Language used by Apache Cassandra. Any CQL knowledge transfers directly.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A keyspace is the top-level container, similar to a database in relational systems. A table lives inside a keyspace and stores rows of structured data organised by a partition key and optional clustering keys.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Yes. ScyllaDB is API-compatible with Cassandra, so the cassandra-driver<\/strong> Python package connects and works without any code modifications.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you have ever needed a database that handles millions of writes per second with predictable single-digit millisecond latency, ScyllaDB is built for exactly that. This ScyllaDB tutorial shows you how to get it running locally with Docker, create your first keyspace and table, insert data, query it, and connect from Python, all in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":121126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[325,959],"tags":[],"views":"33","authorinfo":{"name":"Jebasta","url":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/author\/jebasta\/"},"thumbnailURL":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ScyllaDB-300x116.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121131,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119523\/revisions\/121131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guvi.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}ScyllaDB Tutorial: Installation with Docker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Connecting with cqlsh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Creating a Keyspace and Table<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CREATE KEYSPACE IF NOT EXISTS demo\nWITH replication = {\n 'class': 'SimpleStrategy',\n 'replication_factor': '1'\n};\n\nUSE demo;\n\nCREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events (\n user_id UUID,\n event_time TIMESTAMP,\n event_type TEXT,\n details TEXT,\n PRIMARY KEY (user_id, event_time)\n) WITH CLUSTERING ORDER BY (event_time DESC);\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nInserting and Querying Data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
INSERT INTO demo.events (user_id, event_time, event_type, details)\nVALUES (uuid(), toTimestamp(now()), 'login', 'User logged in from mobile');\n\nINSERT INTO demo.events (user_id, event_time, event_type, details)\nVALUES (uuid(), toTimestamp(now()), 'purchase', 'Bought item ID 4412');\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nSELECT * FROM demo.events WHERE user_id = <your-uuid> LIMIT 10;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nConnecting with Python<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
from cassandra.cluster import Cluster\n\ncluster = Cluster(['127.0.0.1'])\nsession = cluster.connect()\n\nsession.execute(\"\"\"\n CREATE KEYSPACE IF NOT EXISTS demo\n WITH replication = {'class': 'SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': '1'}\n\"\"\")\nsession.set_keyspace('demo')\n\nrows = session.execute(\"SELECT event_type, details FROM events LIMIT 5\")\nfor row in rows:\n print(row.event_type, row.details)\n\ncluster.shutdown()\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhen to Use ScyllaDB<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use Case<\/strong><\/td> Why ScyllaDB<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> IoT data ingestion<\/td> Millions of writes per second, time-series friendly data model<\/td><\/tr> User event logging<\/td> Partition by user ID, cluster by timestamp for fast history queries<\/td><\/tr> Real-time analytics<\/td> Low-latency reads across distributed nodes<\/td><\/tr> Messaging infrastructure<\/td> Proven at Discord scale for high-throughput message storage<\/td><\/tr> Leaderboards and counters<\/td> Counter columns and fast aggregation support<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udca1 Did You Know?<\/h3>\n
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Common Mistakes to Avoid<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
1. What is ScyllaDB?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Is ScyllaDB free to use?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Do I need to learn a new query language for ScyllaDB?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. What is the difference between a keyspace and a table in ScyllaDB?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Can I use the Cassandra Python driver with ScyllaDB?<\/strong><\/h3>\n