Apache Kafka Is NOT Real Real-Time Data Streaming!

Learn how Apache Kafka enables low latency real-time use cases in milliseconds, but not in microseconds; learn from stock exchange use cases at NASDAQ.

Real-time data beats slow data. It is that easy! But what is real-time? The term always needs to be defined when discussing a use case. Apache Kafka is the de facto standard for real-time data streaming. Kafka is good enough for almost all real-time scenarios. But dedicated proprietary software is required for niche use cases. Kafka is NOT the right choice if you need microsecond latency! This article explores the architecture of NASDAQ that combines critical stock exchange trading with low-latency streaming analytics.

What Is Real-Time Data Streaming?

Apache Kafka is the de facto standard for data streaming. However, every business has a different understanding of real-time data. And Kafka cannot solve every real-time problem.

Hard real-time is a deterministic network with zero spikes and zero ...