What is Amazon MSK?
Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka) is a fully managed service providing Apache Kafka for real-time streaming applications. The service handles cluster management: provisioning, scaling, patching, and replication across multiple Availability Zones.
Kafka is the de-facto standard for event streaming in modern data architectures. Amazon MSK enables using Kafka without the operational complexity associated with running your own Kafka clusters.
Core Features
- Managed Kafka: Fully managed Kafka clusters without operational overhead
- MSK Serverless: Auto-scaling option for variable workloads
- Multi-AZ Replication: Automatic replication across Availability Zones
- MSK Connect: Managed Kafka Connect for data integration
- Schema Registry: Integration with AWS Glue Schema Registry
Typical Use Cases
Event-Driven Architecture: MSK serves as a central event bus for microservices architectures. Services publish events that are processed by interested consumers. Decoupling enables independent development and scaling.
Log Aggregation: Application logs from distributed systems are aggregated in MSK topics and can be streamed from there to analysis systems like OpenSearch or data warehouses.
Real-Time Analytics: MSK enables stream processing with tools like Kafka Streams or Apache Flink. Data is processed and aggregated in real-time for dashboards or alerts.
Benefits
- Native Kafka compatibility without lock-in
- Reduced operational overhead through full management
- Seamless integration with AWS analytics services
- Flexible options with Provisioned and Serverless
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon MSK: We help with architecting event streaming platforms, migrating existing Kafka clusters, and integrating with your applications.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon MSK?
Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka) is a fully managed service for Apache Kafka. It enables creating and operating Kafka clusters without the complexity of cluster management, including automatic scaling, patching, and replication.
What is the difference between MSK and MSK Serverless?
MSK Provisioned provides dedicated broker instances with full control over configuration. MSK Serverless scales automatically based on workload and is suitable for variable loads. Serverless is easier to operate, Provisioned offers more fine-tuning options.
Which Kafka version is supported?
Amazon MSK supports multiple Apache Kafka versions and enables in-place upgrades. AWS regularly updates supported versions and provides a defined support period for each version.
How does MSK integrate with other AWS services?
MSK integrates with Lambda for event-driven processing, Kinesis Data Firehose for data delivery to S3, Glue for Schema Registry, CloudWatch for monitoring, and IAM for access control.