# Apache Kafka


Zerops provides a fully managed [Apache Kafka](https://kafka.apache.org/) messaging platform with automated scaling and zero infrastructure overhead, letting developers focus entirely on development.

## Supported Versions

Currently supported Kafka version:

Import configuration version:

## Service Configuration

Our Kafka implementation features optimized default settings designed for common use cases.

### Key Configuration

* **Client Connections:** Data brokers available on port `9092`
* **Authentication:** Secure SASL PLAIN with automatically generated credentials
* **Data Persistence:** Topic data stored indefinitely (no time or size limit)
* **Performance:** Optimized settings for reliability and throughput

### Resource Allocation

Zerops automatically allocates resources to your Kafka service based on demand:

* **Memory:** Up to 40GB RAM for high-performance message processing
* **Storage:** Up to 250GB for persistent storage of messages and logs
* **Auto-scaling:** Resources scale up and down automatically based on workload

## Deployment Modes

:::important
Deployment mode is selected during service creation and cannot be changed later.
:::

### High-Availability (HA) Setup

The recommended solution for production workloads and mission-critical data:

* Creates a multi-node Kafka cluster with 3 broker nodes
* Configures 6 partitions across the cluster
* Implements replication factor of 3 (each broker node has a copy of each partition)
* Default topic replication is also 3 (overridable by user application)
* Zerops automatically attempts to repair the cluster and data replication in case of a node failure

### Single Node Instance

Suitable for development and testing environments:

* Consists of 1 broker node
* Configures 3 partitions
* No data replication
* Lower resource requirements

:::note
Use for development or non-critical data only, as data loss may occur due to container volatility.
:::

## Authentication Management

Authentication credentials are automatically generated and managed by the platform using SASL PLAIN authentication.

**Access your credentials through:**
* The service access details in the Zerops GUI
* Environment variables in your service configuration:
  * `user` - Username for authentication
  * `password` - Generated secure password
  * `port` - Kafka port (value: `9092`)

## Client Access

Client implementations differ, please refer to your chosen client's configuration manual for specific details.

### Access Methods

#### Seed Broker Connection
Connect to the Kafka cluster using the "seed" (or "bootstrap") broker server:
```
<hostname>:9092
```

#### Specific Broker Access
To access a single specific broker or a list of all/some brokers:
```
node-stable-1.db.<hostname>.zerops:9092,node-stable-2.db.<hostname>.zerops:9092,...
```

## Best Practices

### Production Workloads
* Use HA mode for all production deployments
* Configure proper retention policies for your topics based on your data requirements
* Monitor consumer lag to ensure messages are being processed efficiently
* Use consumer groups to distribute processing load

### Development Environments
* Single node instances are suitable for development and testing
* Be aware of potential data loss in non-HA deployments
* Consider using smaller message sizes during development to reduce resource usage

## Support

For advanced configurations or custom requirements:
* Join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/zerops)
* Contact support via [email](mailto:support@zerops.io)