Kafka Most Asked Interview Questions

1) What is Apache Kafka?

Apache Kafka is a tool that helps different parts of an application share information by sending
messages quickly and efficiently. It's like a post office for data, ensuring that messages are sent,
received, and processed in real time, even if there's a lot of data. It's used a lot for applications that
need to handle data immediately, like tracking clicks on a website or processing online orders.

2) What are some common use cases of Kafka?

Apache Kafka is used in many ways, such as analyzing data instantly, keeping a record of database
changes, helping different parts of an app talk to each other, and managing messages or data from
many sources. It's especially helpful for apps that need to process information right away, like
updating live dashboards or sending notifications.

3) How does Kafka differ from traditional messaging systems?

Apache Kafka is different from traditional messaging systems because it can handle lots of data at
once, is very reliable, and can grow with our needs. While most traditional systems send messages
from one point to another, Kafka stores messages in a way that many parts of an application can read
them anytime they need to. This makes it great for apps that deal with a lot of data continuously.

4) What components make up the Kafka architecture?

Apache Kafka is made up of a few main parts: Producers that send messages, Consumers that receive
messages, Brokers that store and manage the data across multiple servers, Topics which are
categories for organizing messages, Partitions that split topics for better handling and speed, and
Zookeeper, a service that keeps everything running smoothly and in order. These components work
together to handle and distribute large amounts of data efficiently.

5) What is a Kafka Topic?

A Kafka Topic is like a folder where messages are stored. Producers send their messages to these
topics, and consumers read from them. Topics are divided into partitions to spread data across
different servers, which helps handle more data at once and allows many users to read the data
simultaneously without slowing down the system. This setup helps manage large amounts of data
efficiently.

6) How do you create a topic in Kafka?

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To create a topic in Kafka, I use a command-line tool provided by Kafka. I run a command that
includes the name I want for the topic, how many parts (partitions) it should be split into, and how
many copies (replication factor) of the data should be kept. Here's a simple example of the
command: kafka-topics.sh --create --bootstrap-server server_address --replication-factor 1 --
partitions 3 --topic our_topic_name. This sets up a new topic with our specified options.

7) How can topics be partitioned and why is this important?

Kafka topics can be split into different partitions, which means dividing the data into separate parts
stored on different servers. This is important because it allows many parts of the application to read
and write data at the same time without waiting for each other. This setup helps handle more data
quickly and keeps the system running smoothly even as it gets busier, making sure that the
application can scale up as needed.

8) What happens when a topic is replicated in Kafka?

When a topic is replicated in Kafka, it means that copies of the data are stored on different servers in
the system. This is important because if one server has a problem or crashes, the data won't be
lost—there are other servers that have the same data ready to use. This setup also helps the system
handle more requests to read the data, as these can be spread across multiple servers, keeping
things running smoothly.

9) Explain the role of the Zookeeper in Kafka.

Zookeeper in Kafka helps keep everything organized and running smoothly. It keeps track of all the
Kafka servers (brokers) and their status, manages the list of topics, and helps decide which server is
in charge of a partition. Basically, Zookeeper acts like an administrator that makes sure everyone
knows their role and what's going on, which is crucial for the system to work correctly and handle
changes like adding new servers.

10) Why is Zookeeper critical for Kafka?

Zookeeper is vital for Kafka because it helps keep the system stable and running smoothly. It
manages the information about the Kafka servers, like which ones are active and how data is
distributed across them. It also decides which server leads when multiple ones handle the same
data, ensuring everything is consistent and avoiding data loss. Essentially, Zookeeper acts as a
coordinator for Kafka's operations, making it reliable and efficient.

11) What would happen if Zookeeper were to fail?

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If Zookeeper fails in a Kafka system, it causes problems in managing the Kafka servers. Without
Zookeeper, the servers might not know which one should be in charge of a particular data set, and
new servers can't join properly. This can lead to difficulties in sending and receiving messages
correctly, potentially causing data loss or system interruptions. Essentially, Zookeeper's failure can
make the whole Kafka system unstable and disrupt its operations.

12) How does Kafka handle Zookeeper outages?

When Zookeeper goes down, Kafka tries to keep running with what it has. The Kafka servers already
in charge of data continue to work, so reading and writing data can still happen. However, Kafka can't
make changes like choosing new leaders for data partitions or adding new servers until Zookeeper is
back. This means while basic operations go on, the system can't fully adjust or recover from other
problems until Zookeeper is restored.

13) What are Kafka Producers and Consumers?

Kafka Producers are programs that send messages to Kafka. They put data into different categories
called topics. Kafka Consumers are programs that read and use these messages. They take the data
from the topics they are interested in. Producers and consumers work together to move and process
data in real-time, helping different parts of an application share information quickly and efficiently.

14) How do producers send data to Kafka?

Producers send data to Kafka by connecting to Kafka servers and choosing a topic to send their
messages to. They can decide which part of the topic (partition) to send each message to, often using
a key to keep related messages together. The Kafka servers then store these messages so that
consumers can read and use them later. This setup helps organize and manage data efficiently.

15) What are some of the strategies consumers use to read data from Kafka?

Consumers read data from Kafka by subscribing to topics they are interested in. They often join
consumer groups, where each consumer reads from different parts (partitions) of the topic to
balance the workload. They keep track of which messages they have already read using offsets. This
way, if something goes wrong or they need to restart, they can pick up right where they left off,
making sure they don't miss any data.

16) How can consumer groups enhance the scalability of Kafka?

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Consumer groups make Kafka more scalable by sharing the work among multiple consumers. Each
consumer in the group reads from a different part of a topic, so they can process data at the same
time. If the amount of data grows, we can add more consumers to the group to handle the extra
load. This way, Kafka can manage large amounts of data efficiently and quickly, making the system
work better as it scales up.

17) Discuss how Kafka achieves fault tolerance.

Kafka achieves fault tolerance by making copies of data and spreading it across different servers.
Each topic is split into parts called partitions, and each part is duplicated on multiple servers. If one
server fails, Kafka can still access the data from the other servers with copies. ZooKeeper helps
manage which server is in charge of each part, ensuring everything keeps running smoothly even if
some servers have problems.

18) What is the role of replication in Kafka?

Replication in Kafka means making copies of data and storing them on different servers. This ensures
that if one server fails, Kafka can still get the data from the other servers with copies. Replication
keeps the system running smoothly without losing data. It also helps balance the workload because
consumers can read from different copies. This makes sure that the data is always available and safe.

19) How does Kafka ensure data is not lost?

Kafka prevents data loss by making multiple copies of each message and storing them on different
servers. When a producer sends a message, it waits for confirmation from the servers that they've
received it. If no confirmation comes, the producer sends the message again. All data is saved to disk,
so even if a server fails, other copies are safe. This system ensures data is always available and never
lost.

20) What is the significance of the "acknowledgement" setting in producers?

The "acknowledgment" setting in Kafka producers controls how many servers must confirm they got
a message before the producer thinks it's sent. If set to acks=1, only the main server confirms. With
acks=all, all copies confirm, making it very safe but slower. With acks=0, no confirmation is needed,
which is fast but risky because data could be lost if something goes wrong.

21) Explain Kafka Streams and its use cases.

Kafka Streams is a tool that helps build real-time applications that process data as it arrives. It reads
data from Kafka topics and allows us to transform, filter, combine, and analyze this data on the fly.
Common uses include real-time analytics, monitoring systems, and tracking financial transactions.

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Kafka Streams makes it easy to handle complex data processing directly within Kafka, making
applications scalable and reliable without needing extra processing systems.

22) What differentiates Kafka Streams from other stream processing libraries?

Kafka Streams is different from other stream processing tools because it’s easy to use, works directly
with Kafka, and doesn’t need extra servers. It runs like a regular Java program. Kafka Streams offers
strong features like handling stateful data, time-based processing, and ensuring data is processed
exactly once. This tight integration with Kafka makes it simple to build reliable, real-time applications
that scale well.

23) How does Kafka Streams handle state?

Kafka Streams handles state by using local databases, like RocksDB, to store data needed for
processing. Each application keeps its state locally for quick access. This state is regularly saved to
Kafka topics to ensure it isn't lost. This setup allows Kafka Streams to efficiently manage data for
tasks like combining, summarizing, and windowing, while ensuring high performance and easy
recovery if something goes wrong.

24) What are some of the challenges associated with using Kafka Streams?

Using Kafka Streams comes with challenges like managing state storage, which can get tricky and use
lots of resources for big applications. Making sure data is processed exactly once can be complex. It
also requires careful tuning to handle pressure and scale efficiently. Debugging and monitoring
distributed processing is tough. Plus, developers need to understand Kafka well to optimize
performance and keep the system reliable, which can make learning harder.

25) How do you secure a Kafka cluster?

To secure a Kafka cluster, encrypt data using SSL/TLS while it moves. Use SASL to verify clients'
identities and set up Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control who can access what. Make sure both
clients and servers authenticate properly. Keep the system updated with the latest patches to fix
security holes. Monitor and log access to spot any unauthorized actions. Also, use firewalls and
secure network design for extra protection.

26) What security mechanisms are available in Kafka?

Kafka has several security features: SSL/TLS to encrypt data while it’s being sent, SASL for verifying
the identities of clients and brokers, and Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control who can access and
use data. Kafka can also use Kerberos for strong authentication. Additionally, Kafka supports

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encrypting stored data and securing communication with ZooKeeper. These features help keep data
safe and ensure secure communication in Kafka.

27) How would you implement encryption in Kafka?

To encrypt data in Kafka, set up SSL/TLS for secure communication. First, create SSL certificates for
each Kafka broker and client. In the broker settings, add the SSL certificate details like
ssl.keystore.location, ssl.keystore.password, ssl.truststore.location, and ssl.truststore.password. Do
the same in the client settings. Make sure both brokers and clients use matching certificates. Test to
ensure data is encrypted while being sent, keeping the communication secure.

28) What are the best practices for securing Kafka at scale?

To secure Kafka at scale, use SSL/TLS to encrypt data in transit and SASL for strong authentication. Set
up Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control who can access and use data. Keep Kafka and its
components updated to fix security issues. Monitor and log activities to catch any suspicious actions.
Secure ZooKeeper with authentication and encryption. Use firewalls and VPNs, and segment the
network to protect important parts and limit access.

29) Discuss Kafka Connect.

Kafka Connect is a tool that helps move data between Kafka and other systems easily. It uses
connectors to pull data from places like databases or file systems and send it to Kafka, or to push
data from Kafka to these places. Kafka Connect is scalable and reliable, making it simple to set up
real-time data pipelines for syncing data across different systems.

30) What is Kafka Connect and why is it useful?

Kafka Connect is a tool that helps move data between Kafka and other systems, like databases or file
systems, easily and efficiently. It uses connectors to automatically pull data into Kafka or push data
out to other places. Kafka Connect is useful because it simplifies setting up real-time data pipelines,
making it easier to keep data synchronized across different systems without a lot of manual work.

31) How do you scale Kafka Connect?

To scale Kafka Connect, add more worker nodes to the Connect cluster and distribute the connectors
and tasks among them to balance the load. Use distributed mode for better reliability and scalability.
Keep an eye on performance and adjust resources as needed. Make sure connectors and tasks can
handle more data. Manage CPU and memory resources well and tweak settings to improve data
processing speed and reduce delays.

32) What are some common issues you might encounter while using Kafka Connect?

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Common issues with Kafka Connect include incorrect connector settings that stop data transfer, and
performance slowdowns due to not enough resources or poor setup. Data may become inconsistent
if connectors fail or lose their place. Network problems can interrupt data flow. Handling large
amounts of data can cause delays and reduce speed. Upgrading connectors and making sure they
work well together can also be tricky, needing careful version control and testing.

33) You have a Kafka topic with multiple partitions, and you need to ensure that messages with the
same key are processed in the order they were sent. How do you achieve this?

To ensure that messages with the same key are processed in order, you should use a partition key.
Kafka guarantees that messages with the same key will go to the same partition and, within a
partition, messages are ordered. So, by assigning the same key to related messages, you can ensure
they are sent to the same partition and processed in order.

34) You notice that your Kafka consumers are lagging behind, unable to keep up with the rate at
which messages are being produced. What steps would you take to address this issue?

To address consumer lag, I would:

• Scale out consumers: Increase the number of consumer instances to parallelize message
processing.
• Optimize consumer code: Review and optimize the consumer application to process
messages more efficiently.
• Increase partition count: Add more partitions to the topic to enable better parallelism if the
number of consumers is limited by the current partition count.
• Adjust configurations: Tune Kafka and consumer configurations, such as fetch.min.bytes and
fetch.max.wait.ms, to balance the load and improve throughput.
• Monitor resource usage: Ensure that the consumers have enough CPU, memory, and
network bandwidth.

35) Your application requires exactly-once processing semantics. How do you configure Kafka to
achieve this?

To achieve exactly-once semantics in Kafka, I would:

• Enable Idempotence: Ensure that the producer is configured with enable.idempotence=true.

This ensures that duplicate messages are not produced.
• Transactional APIs: Use Kafka's transactional APIs by starting a transaction with the
producer, sending messages, and committing the transaction. This can be done using the
beginTransaction, send, and commitTransaction methods.
• Consumer Configuration: Configure consumers to commit offsets only after the transaction
is successfully completed, ensuring that messages are processed exactly once.

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36) You need to update the schema of the messages being produced to a Kafka topic without
disrupting the existing consumers. How do you handle schema evolution in Kafka?

To handle schema evolution in Kafka:

• Use Schema Registry: Utilize Confluent Schema Registry to manage and version schemas.
Producers and consumers can automatically retrieve and validate schemas.
• Backward Compatibility: Ensure that the new schema is backward compatible with the old
schema. This allows consumers to continue processing messages using the old schema while
producers start using the new schema.
• Schema Validation: Configure producers to validate messages against the latest schema
version before sending them to Kafka, and configure consumers to validate incoming
messages against the expected schema version.

37) Your application requires high availability and fault tolerance for the Kafka cluster. How do you
configure Kafka to meet these requirements?

To ensure high availability and fault tolerance in Kafka:

• Replication Factor: Set a replication factor greater than 1 for your topics. This ensures that
data is replicated across multiple brokers.
• ISR (In-Sync Replicas): Ensure that the min.insync.replicas configuration is set appropriately
(typically to a value less than the replication factor but more than 1) to guarantee that a
minimum number of replicas are in sync before acknowledging a write.
• Acks Configuration: Configure the producer with acks=all to ensure that the producer waits
for acknowledgment from all in-sync replicas before considering a message as successfully
produced.
• Monitoring and Alerts: Set up monitoring and alerting to detect broker failures and under-
replicated partitions promptly.
• Cluster Maintenance: Regularly perform maintenance tasks, such as adding/removing
brokers and rebalancing partitions, to ensure the cluster remains healthy and balanced.

38) How would you handle a situation where Kafka is causing message duplication due to
consumer rebalancing or producer retries?

To handle message duplication, use Kafka’s idempotent producer to ensure exactly-once delivery at
the producer level. For consumers, enable exactly-once semantics using Kafka Streams or
transactional consumers. Additionally, set enable.auto.commit=false and manually commit offsets
after processing to avoid duplicates during rebalancing.

39) What strategies would you use if your Kafka messages are larger than the default size limit (1
MB) and causing performance issues?

Increase the message size limit by configuring the max.message.bytes property on both the broker
and producer. Alternatively, split large messages into smaller chunks at the producer side and
reassemble them on the consumer side to handle them efficiently.

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40) How would you handle a situation where your Kafka consumer group is significantly lagging
behind in consuming messages?

Scale the number of consumer instances to process messages in parallel. Optimize the consumer's
message processing logic for better efficiency, and adjust configurations like fetch.min.bytes and
fetch.max.wait.ms to optimize message retrieval.

41) What steps would you take to ensure high availability if a Kafka broker in a cluster fails
unexpectedly?

Ensure that the replication factor is set to at least 3 for fault tolerance. Enable min.insync.replicas to
ensure that a quorum of replicas remains available during broker failure. The controller will
automatically elect a new leader for the affected partitions.

42) How do you ensure data consistency when multiple consumers are reading from the same
Kafka topic?

Use consumer groups to ensure that each message is consumed by only one consumer within the
group, ensuring consistency. Properly manage offset commits to ensure that each message is
processed exactly once.

43) What are the key metrics you would monitor to ensure optimal Kafka cluster performance, and
how would you troubleshoot issues like throughput drops?

Monitor metrics like consumer lag, producer latency, broker CPU/memory usage, network
throughput, and disk I/O. To troubleshoot throughput drops, check for network bottlenecks, disk
usage spikes, or misconfigured partitioning.

44) What happens if a Kafka partition leader fails, and how does Kafka handle leader election?

If a partition leader fails, Kafka uses ZooKeeper (or Raft in newer versions) to elect a new leader from
the in-sync replicas (ISR). This ensures minimal downtime and continued availability of data.

45) Why does a consumer group sometimes take a long time to rebalance when a new consumer
joins or leaves, and how would you reduce this time?

Rebalancing can take time due to offset commit synchronization and partition reassignment. To
reduce rebalancing time, fine-tune configurations like session.timeout.ms and max.poll.interval.ms.
Use sticky partition assignment to reduce unnecessary movement of partitions.

46) Is it possible to lose data in Kafka despite having replication set up? If so, how?

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Yes, data loss can occur if acks=1 is used, meaning only the leader acknowledges writes. If the leader
fails before replication, data may be lost. Using acks=all, setting a proper replication factor, and
ensuring min.insync.replicas are set correctly mitigates this risk.

47) When would you prefer using a compacted topic over a regular topic, and what are the trade-
offs?

Use a compacted topic when you need to retain only the latest value for a key (e.g., changelogs or
user state updates). The trade-off is that historical records are removed, so compacted topics are not
suitable when full event history needs to be preserved.

48) Kafka guarantees ordering of messages, but under what conditions could this guarantee be
broken?

Kafka guarantees ordering within a partition. Ordering can be broken if messages are sent to multiple
partitions, or if the partitioning strategy is changed (e.g., when adding partitions).

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