Can Apache Kafka Replace a Database? – The 2021 Update

Can and should Apache Kafka replace a database? How long can and should I store data in Kafka? How can I query and process data in Kafka? These are common questions that come up more and more. This session explains the idea behind databases and different features like storage, queries, transactions, and processing to evaluate when Kafka is a good fit, and when it is not. The discussion includes different Kafka-native add-ons like Tiered Storage for long-term, cost-efficient storage, and ksqlDB as an event streaming database. The relation and trade-offs between Kafka and other databases are explored to complement each other instead of thinking about a replacement. This includes different options for pull and push-based bi-directional integration.