What is included in SSTable Metadata in Cassandra?

SSTable Metadata in Cassandra provides detailed information about the structure and properties of SSTables. This includes essential attributes such as the partition key, clustering columns, the number of rows contained within the SSTable, and details about the data encoding formats. By maintaining this metadata, Cassandra can efficiently manage data storage, retrieval, and performance optimizations.

Understanding this is crucial for database administrators and developers, as it directly affects how data is organized and accessed. For instance, knowing the number of rows in an SSTable helps in query planning and can optimize read performance. Moreover, the metadata plays a key role in the compaction process, enabling efficient data management over time. The other options do not pertain to the specific functionalities related to SSTable Metadata in Cassandra.