Which tool can be used to monitor the performance of a Cassandra cluster?

Nodetool is a command-line utility designed specifically for managing and monitoring Apache Cassandra clusters. It provides a wide range of functionalities crucial for observing the performance of the cluster in real-time. This includes command options to check the status of nodes, observe metrics such as read and write latencies, monitor the number of live and dead nodes, and inspect the health of the cluster. Nodetool commands like nodetool status, nodetool tpstats, and nodetool info are particularly valuable for performance monitoring, giving administrators insight into various operational aspects of the cluster.

Other tools like Graphite can be used for monitoring purposes but typically require integration for metrics gathering and visualization rather than offering direct visibility into Cassandra clusters on their own. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is not applicable as it is specifically designed for managing Microsoft SQL Server databases, not Cassandra. Therefore, Nodetool stands out as the direct and effective tool for performance monitoring within a Cassandra environment.