**An important update regarding support of Cassandra Lucene Index for Apache Cassandra® 5.0 and the retirement of Apache Lucene Add-On on the Instaclustr Managed Platform.**
Instaclustr by NetApp has been maintaining the new fork of the Cassandra Lucene Index plug-in since its announcement in 2018. After extensive evaluation, we have decided not to upgrade the Cassandra Lucene Index to support Apache Cassandra® 5.0. This decision aligns with the evolving needs of the Cassandra community and the capabilities offered by the Storage–Attached Indexing (SAI) in Cassandra 5.0.
SAI introduces significant improvements in secondary indexing, while simplifying data modeling and creating new use cases in Cassandra, such as Vector Search. While SAI is not a direct replacement for the Cassandra Lucene Index, it offers a more efficient alternative for many indexing needs.
For applications requiring advanced indexing features, such as full-text search or geospatial queries, users can consider external integrations, such as OpenSearch®, that offer numerous full-text search and advanced analysis features.
We are committed to maintaining the Cassandra Lucene Index for currently supported and newer versions of Apache Cassandra 4 (including minor and patch-level versions) for users who rely on its advanced search capabilities. We will continue to release bug fixes and provide necessary security patches for the supported versions in the public repository.
Retiring Apache Lucene™ Add-On for Instaclustr for Apache Cassandra
Similarly, Instaclustr is commencing the retirement process of the Apache Lucene add-on on its Instaclustr Managed Platform. The offering will move to the Closed state on July 31, 2024. This means that the add-on will no longer be available for new customers.
However, it will continue to be fully supported for existing customers with no restrictions on SLAs, and new deployments will be permitted by exception. Existing customers should be aware that the add-on will not be supported for Cassandra 5.0. For more details about our lifecycle policies, please visit our website here.
Instaclustr will work with the existing customers to ensure a smooth transition during this period. Support and documentation will remain in place for our customers running the Lucene add–on on their clusters.
For those transitioning to, or already using the Cassandra 5.0 beta version, we recommend exploring how Storage-Attached Indexing can help you with your indexing needs. You can try the SAI feature as part of the free trial on the Instaclustr Managed Platform.
We thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to adapt and respond to the community’s needs.
If you have any questions about this announcement, please contact us at [email protected].