Apache Kafka is a distributed event streaming platform designed for high-throughput messaging and data pipelines.
- Distributed log architecture
- High throughput and scalability
- Durable, replayable streams
- KRaft mode (no ZooKeeper required in 4.0+)
- Event streaming pipelines
- Log aggregation and processing
- High-volume messaging
- Real-time data integration
- Kafka 4.0+ uses KRaft mode exclusively (ZooKeeper removed)
- For legacy deployments, Kafka 3.x supports both ZooKeeper and KRaft modes
¶ History and References