Waterstream is an MQTT broker that uses Kafka as its sole persistence layer, seamlessly connecting MQTT clients with the Kafka ecosystem.
This integration enables the consolidation of IoT data streams with Kafka’s robust architecture, facilitating real-time processing, enhanced data accessibility, and flexible scalability. As a result, companies can gain actionable insights and make more responsive decisions based on data flowing from various connected devices.
With its stateless, multi-cloud compatible design, Waterstream simplifies IoT data management, reducing infrastructure complexity and operational costs.
Waterstream revolutionizes the integration between Kafka and the IoT world by introducing a Confluent-verified native MQTT integration.
Unlike traditional solutions, it requires no additional components: the Waterstream broker operates as a fully stateless, native Kafka application, connecting directly through the cluster’s producers and consumers.
This design eliminates the need for extra storage by saving MQTT client data directly into Kafka: every message, session, and subscription from MQTT clients is persisted directly as an event within Kafka topics.
Waterstream is not just a connector; it is a full-featured MQTT broker that uses Kafka as its sole persistence layer.
Adopting Waterstream provides both architectural and operational advantages, definitively bridging the gap between IoT connectivity and enterprise data streaming.
MQTT-based applications and IoT devices generate enormous amounts of data. An efficient transport system ensures this data reaches processing systems quickly and reliably.
Many MQTT-based applications (e.g., IoT, smart cities, autonomous vehicles) require real-time data. Delays in transporting data can lead to missed opportunities or system failures.
Efficient data transport minimizes network congestion and optimizes bandwidth, reducing costs and improving overall system performance.
A reliable transport mechanism ensures that data remains intact and secure during transmission, preventing losses and protecting against cyber threats.
As IoT networks grow, an efficient transport system is critical for scaling operations without overwhelming processing systems or degrading performance.
Waterstream enables transparent and bi-directional integration between MQTT clients and Kafka, allowing data collected via MQTT to be used, processed and distributed by Kafka using streaming tools (e.g. Apache Flink, Kafka Streams). At the same time, it can feed MQTT clients with data from Kafka.
No extra dependencies beyond Kafka are required, thus simplifying the implementation and integration process. This reduces operational complexity and facilitates maintenance.
Waterstream is a stateless application, which makes it easily scalable and resilient to failures. It can be deployed across multiple instances behind a load balancer, ensuring high availability and support for millions of MQTT clients.
Waterstream is not tied to a single cloud provider, making it suitable for multi-cloud and hybrid scenarios. This offers greater flexibility for businesses operating in diverse cloud environments.
Thanks to the MQTT protocol, it is ideal for scenarios where clients operate on unstable or intermittently connected networks, while still guaranteeing reliable data access on Kafka.
Advanced features through Kafka: By integrating Kafka, Waterstream adds advanced features such as rewind (ability to go back in message history) and message validation through Kafka’s Schema Registry.
Supports MQTT over WebSocket, allowing data to be streamed from Kafka directly to web clients via the browser, further expanding application potential.
Waterstream can operate as a bridge to an existing MQTT broker, bringing only a subset of topics to Kafka, allowing a gradual and flexible integration.
Waterstream fully implements the specifications of MQTT protocol versions 3.1 and 5, ensuring full compatibility with applications using these standards.
The native synergy between Waterstream and Confluent accelerates the creation of advanced IoT applications, converting raw data streams into strategic insights via Confluent Cloud.
The integration ensures message integrity with Confluent Schema Registry and enables immediate streaming analytics through ksqlDB and Apache Flink. Monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana completes the solution, ensuring total observability and constant control over the entire ecosystem.
Waterstream works with any Kafka-compatible platform. This flexibility allows companies to choose the Kafka distribution that best suits their needs, without locking them into a single solution.
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