openova/platform/strimzi

Strimzi (Apache Kafka)

Apache Kafka on Kubernetes via the Strimzi operator.

Status: Accepted | Updated: 2026-02-09

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Overview

Strimzi provides a Kubernetes-native way to run Apache Kafka clusters. Both Strimzi and Apache Kafka are Apache 2.0 licensed. Strimzi replaces Redpanda, which changed to the Business Source License (BSL 1.1).

Strimzi manages the full Kafka ecosystem on Kubernetes:

• Kafka brokers with KRaft mode (no ZooKeeper dependency)
• Kafka Connect for Debezium CDC integration
• MirrorMaker2 for cross-region topic replication
• Schema Registry (Apicurio) for schema management

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Architecture

Single Region

flowchart TB
    subgraph Kafka["Kafka Cluster (Strimzi)"]
        K1[Broker 1]
        K2[Broker 2]
        K3[Broker 3]
    end

    subgraph Connect["Kafka Connect"]
        Debezium[Debezium CDC]
    end

    subgraph Producers
        Apps[Applications]
    end

    subgraph Consumers
        Workers[Workers]
        OpenMeter[OpenMeter]
    end

    Apps --> K1
    Debezium --> K2
    K1 --> Workers
    K2 --> OpenMeter

Multi-Region (MirrorMaker2)

flowchart TB
    subgraph Region1["Region 1"]
        K1[Kafka Cluster]
        MM1[MirrorMaker2]
    end

    subgraph Region2["Region 2"]
        K2[Kafka Cluster]
        MM2[MirrorMaker2]
    end

    K1 -->|"Mirror"| MM1
    MM1 --> K2
    K2 -->|"Mirror"| MM2
    MM2 --> K1

MirrorMaker2 provides active-active cross-region replication with automatic topic and consumer group offset synchronization.

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Why Strimzi + Kafka

Factor	Detail
License	Apache 2.0 (both Strimzi and Kafka)
Maturity	Kafka is the industry standard for event streaming
KRaft mode	No ZooKeeper dependency (simplified operations)
Ecosystem	Kafka Connect, MirrorMaker2, Schema Registry
CNCF	Strimzi is a CNCF Sandbox project
Reason for switch	Redpanda changed to BSL 1.1

---

Configuration

Kafka Cluster (Strimzi)

apiVersion: kafka.strimzi.io/v1beta2
kind: Kafka
metadata:
  name: kafka
  namespace: databases
spec:
  kafka:
    version: 3.7.0
    replicas: 3
    listeners:
      - name: plain
        port: 9092
        type: internal
        tls: false
      - name: tls
        port: 9093
        type: internal
        tls: true
    config:
      auto.create.topics.enable: "false"
      default.replication.factor: 3
      min.insync.replicas: 2
      offsets.topic.replication.factor: 3
      transaction.state.log.replication.factor: 3
      transaction.state.log.min.isr: 2
    storage:
      type: persistent-claim
      size: 100Gi
      class: <storage-class>
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 1
        memory: 2Gi
      limits:
        cpu: 2
        memory: 4Gi
  zookeeper:
    replicas: 0  # KRaft mode - no ZooKeeper
  entityOperator:
    topicOperator: {}
    userOperator: {}

Kafka Connect (for Debezium)

apiVersion: kafka.strimzi.io/v1beta2
kind: KafkaConnect
metadata:
  name: kafka-connect
  namespace: databases
  annotations:
    strimzi.io/use-connector-resources: "true"
spec:
  version: 3.7.0
  replicas: 2
  bootstrapServers: kafka-kafka-bootstrap:9092
  config:
    group.id: connect-cluster
    offset.storage.topic: connect-offsets
    config.storage.topic: connect-configs
    status.storage.topic: connect-status
    offset.storage.replication.factor: 3
    config.storage.replication.factor: 3
    status.storage.replication.factor: 3
  build:
    output:
      type: docker
      image: harbor.<domain>/kafka-connect:latest
    plugins:
      - name: debezium-postgres
        artifacts:
          - type: maven
            group: io.debezium
            artifact: debezium-connector-postgres
            version: 2.6.1.Final

MirrorMaker2 Configuration

apiVersion: kafka.strimzi.io/v1beta2
kind: KafkaMirrorMaker2
metadata:
  name: mm2
  namespace: databases
spec:
  version: 3.7.0
  replicas: 2
  connectCluster: "region2"
  clusters:
    - alias: "region1"
      bootstrapServers: kafka-kafka-bootstrap.region1.<domain>:9092
      tls: {}
    - alias: "region2"
      bootstrapServers: kafka-kafka-bootstrap.databases.svc:9092
  mirrors:
    - sourceCluster: "region1"
      targetCluster: "region2"
      sourceConnector:
        config:
          replication.factor: 3
          offset-syncs.topic.replication.factor: 3
          heartbeats.topic.replication.factor: 3
          checkpoints.topic.replication.factor: 3
          sync.topic.acls.enabled: "false"
      topicsPattern: ".*"
      groupsPattern: ".*"

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Topics

Topic Pattern	Purpose	Retention
cdc.postgres.*	PostgreSQL CDC events	7 days
events.*	Application events	7 days
openmeter.*	Usage metering	30 days

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Monitoring

Metric	Description
kafka_server_brokertopicmetrics_messagesin_total	Messages in per second
kafka_server_replicamanager_underreplicatedpartitions	Under-replicated partitions
kafka_controller_kafkacontroller_activecontrollercount	Active controller count
kafka_consumer_consumer_fetch_manager_metrics_records_lag_max	Consumer lag
strimzi_resources	Strimzi-managed resource count

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Debezium Integration

Kafka (via Strimzi) serves as the transport layer for CDC:

flowchart LR
    CNPG[PostgreSQL - CNPG] -->|"CDC (WAL)"| Debezium[Debezium]
    Debezium --> Kafka[Kafka]
    Kafka --> OSSink[OpenSearch Sink]
    Kafka --> CHSink[ClickHouse Sink]

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Part of OpenOva