Sorry, my comments were indeed a little short on elucidation. :) The cited doc suggest that setting initial_token to 0 on the first node "simplifies load balancing as you later expand the cluster . . . . If this is unset (the default), Cassandra picks a token number randomly."
A more complete explanation might look something like: . . . it is recommended to set the initial token's value to zero. This simplifies load balancing as you later expand the cluster, since the node starting at 0 will never need to be moved to a new token. Also, if this is unset (the default), Cassandra picks a token number randomly, which can lead to hot spots in the ring. On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Brandon Williams <dri...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 2:14 PM, Robert Coli <rc...@digg.com> wrote: > >> On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 11:55 AM, Eric Gilmore <e...@riptano.com> wrote: >> > Also, in the Getting Started page, we note that it may be best to set >> > initial_token to 0 on the very first node that you start. >> >> Could you expand a bit on the reasons for and implications of this, >> for our collective elucidation? :) >> > > Because then the node never has to move. Same would be true of 2**127, but > zero is mnemonically easier. :) > > -Brandon > -- *Eric Gilmore * Consulting Technical Writer Riptano, Inc. Ph: 510 684 9786 (cell)
