Kafka is an open source real-time streaming messaging system and protocol built around the publish-subscribe system. In this system, producers publish data to feeds for which consumers are subscribed to. With Kafka, clients within a system can exchange information with higher performance and lower risk of serious failure. Instead of establishing direct connections between subsystems, clients communicate via a server which brokers the information between producers and consumers.

Creating a topic in production is an operative task that requires awareness and preparation. In this tutorial, we’ll explain all the parameters to consider when creating a new topic in production. Setting the partition count and replication factor is required when creating a new Topic and the following choices affect the performance and reliability of your system.