Apache Kafka

What is it?

Apache Kafka is an open-source, distributed event streaming platform originally developed at LinkedIn and later donated to the Apache Software Foundation. It is built to handle large volumes of real-time data reliably.

What does it do?

Kafka ingests, stores, and streams events using a distributed log architecture. It enables real-time data pipelines, stream processing, and event-driven communication with strong durability, ordering, and scalability guarantees.

Where is it used?

Kafka is widely used in large-scale microservice architectures, data platforms, analytics systems, financial services, SaaS platforms, and enterprises that require real-time data processing and system decoupling.

When & why it emerged

Kafka was introduced around 2011 to address the need for scalable, fault-tolerant data pipelines at LinkedIn. It emerged as a backbone for real-time streaming and event-driven architectures.

Why we use it at Internative

We use Kafka for high-throughput, event-driven systems where real-time processing and scalability are essential. It allows us to build resilient data pipelines and decouple services across complex backend ecosystems.