The key to ensuring Kafka uptime and maintaining peak performance is through monitoring. By reviewing disk performance, memory usage, CPU, network traffic, and load in real-time abnormal metrics or trends can be identified before a performance dip or outage occurs.
Furthermore, monitoring Kafka provides assurance to your users that all messages are correctly processed.
There are several programs available for monitoring Kafka. Some come with added cost, such as Confluent, and others are available for free because they are open source. If you are using Kafka, then you already understand the benefits of open source tools. If you need a refresher check out our post on the benefits of open source tools.
When setting up Kafka for our clients we always use the open source database Elasticsearch and its companion visualization tool Kibana for monitoring. It is cost effective, has an appealing user interface, and provides the necessary functionality to create a comprehensive and easy-to-use monitoring tool.