Who uses Apache Kafka and why?

In the last few years, Apache Kafka has become one of the most popular open-source streaming platforms. From startups to large enterprises, many organizations use Kafka for its high throughput and low latency capabilities.

But for those new to Kafka, the question often arises – Who uses Kafka and why? So let us take a look.

Who needs Kafka?

1. Organization that needs a fault-tolerant, scalable, high-throughput system

Kafka is often used in mission-critical applications where data needs to be processed as soon as it is generated. For example, Kafka is used in real-time streaming data architectures to provide low-latency, high-throughput pipelines that enable collecting and processing large stream data sets.

2. Where data needs to be processed in real-time

Kafka is used in many real-time data processing systems, such as online gaming, financial trading, log aggregation, metering and monitoring, clickstream analysis, and geo-tracking. These applications need to process data as it arrives to get the most up-to-date results.

3. Where data needs to be processed in batches

It is a common approach for dealing with large data sets that can't be processed in real-time. For example, Kafka can process historical data like log files from web servers.

4. Where there is a need for high availability

Kafka was designed with high availability in mind. It can be deployed in a cluster and replicated across multiple servers.

Why Kafka?

There are several reasons why Kafka is a popular choice for dealing with streaming data:

1. Stream processing is a new and growing area

Kafka is popular for stream processing because it is a relatively new technology. It is still being developed and improved, and there is a lot of excitement around it.

2. Offers real-time data analysis

Kafka can be used to perform real-time data analysis. This is because it can process data as it comes in without waiting for all the data to be collected before processing it.

3. Metrics collection and monitoring

Kafka can be used to collect and monitor metrics. This is because it can store data in a compact format that is easy to query.

4. Tracking of website activity

LinkedIn uses Kafka to track the activity on its website. With the help of Kafka, website activity can be tracked in real-time. This is possible because it can process data as it comes in without waiting for all the data to be collected before processing it.

There's no doubt that Kafka is a powerful tool that can be used in several ways. It's a versatile tool that can be used for things like real-time data processing, monitoring, and metrics collection. If you're looking for a tool to help you with these things, then Kafka is worth considering.