Apache Kafka 2.13-4.0.2 Powered by GlobalSolutions

Apache Kafka is a publish-subscribe based fault-tolerant messaging system. In comparison to other messaging systems, Kafka has better throughput, built-in partitioning, replication, and inherent fault-tolerance, which makes it a great fit for large-scale message processing applications.

We have packaged and hardened the Kafka service offering so our customers can seamlessly subscribe with no setup work from their end. All you have to do is subscribe to this offering from the marketplace, create topics, publish messages from producers, and start consuming with consumers.

Accessing Your AMI from AWS Marketplace

To get started with your Apache Kafka stack:

Subscribe: Purchase the Apache Kafka AMI from the AWS Marketplace.
Connect via RDP:
- In the AWS Console, select your launched instance and click Connect.
- Choose RDP Client, upload your .pem key file, and decrypt the password using your private key.
- Download the .rdp file and connect using the username Administrator and the decrypted password.

For more information, refer to the AWS Windows Instance Connection Guide.

Kafka as a Service

Kafka is installed under C:\kafka. The instance is tuned so you can start using it immediately — Kafka is installed as a Windows service and is already in a running state. You can start and stop the service by going to Administrative Tools → Services.

Getting Started

Sample Setup

We have pre-created the following to help you get started right away:

A test-topic sample topic has been created.
A producer and consumer batch file have been placed on the desktop for easy access.

Steps to Publish a Message

To publish a message to the topic, click the start-producer icon on the desktop. This will open a Producer command window where you can type and send messages to the topic.

Steps to Consume a Message

To consume messages from the topic, click the start-consumer icon on the desktop. This will open a Consumer command window that listens for incoming messages.

How to Test

With both the producer and consumer command windows open, type anything in the producer command prompt and press Enter. You should immediately see the message appear in the consumer command window.

Connecting to Kafka from Outside

To connect to Kafka from an external client, you need to update the server.properties file located at C:\kafka\config\server.properties. Locate the following properties and update the public DNS value with your EC2 instance's public DNS (available in the AWS Console). Leave the PLAINTEXT protocol as is — only replace the DNS value:

listeners=PLAINTEXT://0.0.0.0:9092
advertised.listeners=PLAINTEXT://your-ec2-public-dns.amazonaws.com:9092

Security Tip: Configure your security groups to allow inbound traffic on port 9092 from trusted sources only.

AWS Cost Optimizer — CloudInsider

Our other popular offering is the AWS Cost Optimizer aka CloudInsider, available in AWS Marketplace. This service has helped our customers save significantly on AWS and other cloud spending. It is easy to subscribe and you can see the savings in minutes.

▶ Watch Demo Video Subscribe on AWS Marketplace

Support

For any questions or assistance with our AWS Marketplace offering, reach out to us at support@theglobalsolutions.net.