Jamie Gillenwater

The new <a href="https://astra.datastax.com/">DataStax Astra</a> experience makes managing and developing on your Astra database easier. We&rsquo;ve added a sample app gallery, analytics dashboard, and have more ways to connect to your Astra database. You don&rsquo;t even need a credit card to create your free database!
Maybe you tried Astra while it was in beta. Or perhaps you tested Astra after it was generally available in May 2020. You got a taste of what was coming, but Astra has grown. You found that Astra makes starting and using Apache Cassandra&trade;&nbsp;in the cloud easier than ever, but it still had room for improvement, especially for new Cassandra users. You told us. We heard you. And we made Astra better for you.
<img src="https://www.datastax.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Astra_CreateDB1.gif" alt="astra" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="75475113-96b3-48f1-af40-1a18687be576" />
<h2>Start developing with the Sample App Gallery</h2>
If you have created your database and want to get started quickly to explore Astra features, start with an app from the <a href="https://astra.datastax.com/sample-app-gallery">Sample App Gallery</a>. Are you a Spring developer who is already with the popular Spring PetClinic? Get started quickly by launching the fully reactive Spring PetClinic application in GitPod. Not interested in Spring, but love Jamstack? We've got you covered. Want to try GraphQL with Cassandra? (Yes, that&rsquo;s possible!) Our sample apps are where you can get started.
<img src="https://www.datastax.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Astra%202_0.png" alt="astra 2" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0e286dd1-0717-4307-b5f0-d45cc51e3379" />
<h2>Choose how you want to connect to Astra</h2>
With your new database, you now have access to a database dashboard that provides several ways to connect to your database. From the Dashboard, select your database name to see more about your database. Astra includes tools for experienced Cassandra users to interact with their database, such as the <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/connecting-to-astra-databases-using-cqlsh">CQL shell</a> and <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/connecting-to-databases-with-datastax-developer-studio">DataStax Studio</a>, along with effective tools for non-Cassandra developers, such as the Astra <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/getting-started-with-datastax-astra">REST API</a> and <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/using-the-astra-graphql-api">GraphQL API</a>. If you already have experience with DataStax drivers, you can <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/connecting-to-astra-databases-using-datastax-drivers">use your driver to connect</a> to your database.
<h2>Manage your database using an integrated dashboard</h2>
With all of your queries, you will want to monitor your database&rsquo;s health. Astra offers a Grafana dashboard with a Cluster Overview and Coordinator Metrics.&nbsp;
<img src="https://www.datastax.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/astra%203_0.png" alt="astra3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c5673cb7-c369-4345-8174-4fcf398350d5" />
To learn more, see <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/viewing-database-health-and-metrics">Viewing database health and metrics</a>.
<h2>What&rsquo;s next?</h2>
If you haven&rsquo;t already used our Cassandra Database-as-a-Service, create a new account using your new username and password or your Google or GitHub account. To explore at no cost, select Add Database, then choose the Free plan option. Yes, the Free database is 5GB of storage, free forever, no credit card required.
After you select your plan, select your cloud provider, region, and enter your database details, select Create Database. That&rsquo;s it. You&rsquo;re done. You have a database. What now?
Start using and learning more about your database with these resources:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.datastax.com/cassandra-workshop-series">Cloud-native Cassandra workshops</a></li>
<li><a href="https://docs.datastax.com/en/astra/docs/">Astra documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/katacoda-scenarios-to-get-started-with-astra">Katacoda scenarios</a></li>
</ul>
Did you know we are adding new features all the time, such as the new plan options that are coming soon? Check out our <a href="https://docs.astra.datastax.com/docs/release-notes">Astra release notes</a> to keep up!

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