Project Name
How Ksolves Cuts Telecom Costs with Confluent to Kafka Migration
A leading telecom analytics firm aimed to modernize its infrastructure by migrating from Confluent Kafka to a fully open-source Apache Kafka environment. The client’s vision was to reduce high licensing costs, eliminate vendor lock-in, and establish a scalable, cloud-hosted solution without compromising system performance or risking downtime.
The client’s Confluent Kafka environment was deeply integrated with multiple mission-critical applications operating 24x7. Key challenges included:
- High Licensing Costs: The recurring cost of Confluent’s enterprise licensing was significantly impacting the client’s budget. Migrating to an open-source Kafka solution offered a clear path to substantial cost savings.
- Zero Downtime Requirement: The Kafka cluster supported several mission-critical, 24x7 applications. Even minimal downtime could severely disrupt real-time analytics and downstream data pipelines.
- No Data Loss Tolerance: The Kafka topics handled high-throughput telemetry data where the integrity and continuity of event streams were critical, with zero tolerance for data loss.
- Application Compatibility: The client’s applications were tightly integrated with the Confluent Kafka ecosystem. A seamless migration without requiring code-level changes was essential to ensure business continuity.
- Infrastructure Migration: Shifting from a Confluent-managed environment to an open-source Kafka deployment demanded meticulous planning for resource provisioning, scaling, and monitoring integration.
Our experts collaborated closely with the client to design a migration approach tailored to their complex Kafka environment. Each step was carefully planned to address critical business, operational, and technical requirements.
- Initial Assessment: We successfully identified all active Kafka topics, producers, consumers, and their interdependencies, and thoroughly reviewed Confluent-specific components such as the Schema Registry, access controls, and monitoring hooks to plan and design equivalent open-source replacements
- Open-Source Kafka Cluster Setup: Our experts provisioned a high-availability, open-source Apache Kafka cluster, secured with TLS, SASL, and strict ACL policies. We engineered it for robust resilience and reliable message durability using optimal replication settings.
- Real-Time Replication Using MirrorMaker 2: We configured MirrorMaker 2 to enable real-time replication of topics from the Confluent cluster to the open-source Kafka cluster. Throughout the process, we ensured the preservation of message order, partition structure, and replication factors.
- Data Intergity Validation: We verified message integrity and order between the source and target Kafka clusters to ensure accurate data replication. We continuously monitored lag, throughput, and message consistency to maintain replication quality.
- Phased Cutover Strategy: Migrated applications to the new Kafka cluster in carefully planned stages, beginning with low-risk services to minimize operational impact. Infrastructure-level redirection was implemented to avoid hardcoded broker address changes in the application configurations.
- Backward Compatibility Assurance: We retained the original topic structure, schema compatibility modes, and message formats to maintain system integrity. With this, we ensured that no code-level changes were required for existing producer or consumer applications.
- Post-Migration Testing & Monitoring: Validated the system’s performance and stability under real load conditions after the migration. During the transition, we ensured that all data pipelines and user-facing services remained fully operational and unaffected.
- Decommissioning Legacy Setup: After successfully verifying all services on the new Kafka cluster, we safely decommissioned the legacy Confluent environment.
- Cost Savings: Eliminated Confluent licensing fees by transitioning to a fully open-source Kafka environment.
- Zero Downtime: Ensured uninterrupted service for all mission-critical applications throughout the migration.
- Data Integrity: Maintained 100% data consistency and message order without losses.
- Operational Flexibility: Empowered the client with a scalable, cloud-hosted, open-source solution free from vendor lock-in.
- Seamless Migration: Delivered a smooth, application-transparent transition without code-level changes.
Ksolves successfully migrated the client’s Kafka infrastructure from a licensed Confluent setup to a fully open-source Apache Kafka environment, achieving zero downtime, no data loss, and complete application compatibility. This migration not only reduced operational costs and eliminated vendor lock-in but also provided greater flexibility, control, and scalability for the client’s future growth. To ensure long-term reliability, Ksolves offered dedicated 24×7 support during and after the migration, proactively monitoring system health and performance to maintain operational continuity and deliver a seamless, future-ready streaming solution.
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