How does Cassandra handle node failures in a cluster?

Cassandra is designed to provide high availability and resilience against node failures in a cluster, which is why the correct answer highlights its ability to replicate data to other nodes and reroute requests.

In a Cassandra cluster, data is distributed across multiple nodes, and each piece of data is replicated to a configurable number of nodes as defined by the replication factor. When a node fails, Cassandra seamlessly reroutes requests to the remaining replicas of the data on other operational nodes. This ensures that the system continues functioning with minimal disruption to users and maintains data availability.

Additionally, the replication mechanism helps to protect against data loss. If one node goes down, the data that was stored on that node can still be accessed from the other replicas, enabling continuous operation of the system without requiring immediate manual intervention or a complete cluster shutdown. This design philosophy aligns with Cassandra's goals of scalability and fault tolerance, making it particularly suitable for applications requiring high availability.