Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides fully-managed and maintenance-free connectors for you to synchronize data between Message Queue for Apache Kafka and other Alibaba Cloud services. This topic describes the types, procedure, and usage limits of connectors. It also describes how to use connectors to synchronize data across regions.

Notice The connector feature of Message Queue for Apache Kafka is in public preview. This feature is independent of Message Queue for Apache Kafka instances. Therefore, Message Queue for Apache Kafka does not charge you when you use a connector to synchronize data between Message Queue for Apache Kafka and another Alibaba Cloud service. Alibaba Cloud does not provide service level agreement (SLA) commitments for the connector feature in public preview. For information about the SLA commitments and billing of the services that are related to the connector feature, see the documentation of the services.

Types of connectors

Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides two categories of connectors:

  • Sink connector: Sink connectors are used to synchronize data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to other Alibaba Cloud services.
    Connector Task type Description Documentation
    Function Compute sink connector KAFKA2FC Exports data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Function Compute. Create a Function Compute sink connector
    MaxCompute sink connector KAFKA2ODPS Exports data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to MaxCompute. Create a MaxCompute sink connector
    OSS sink connector KAFKA2OSS Exports data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Object Storage Service (OSS). Create an OSS sink connector
  • Source connector: Source connectors are used to synchronize data from other Alibaba Cloud services to Message Queue for Apache Kafka .
    Connector Task type Description Documentation
    MySQL sink connector MySQL2KAFKA Imports data from ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL to Message Queue for Apache Kafka . Create a MySQL source connector

Procedure

To use connectors, perform the following steps:

  1. Enable the connector feature.
  2. Create a connector.
  3. Perform the following operations as required:

Limits

The following table describes the usage limits of connectors in Message Queue for Apache Kafka .

Item Description
Maximum number of connectors You can create up to three connectors for each instance.
Regions
  • China (Hangzhou)
  • China (Shanghai)
  • China (Beijing)
  • China (Zhangjiakou)
  • China (Hohhot)
  • China (Shenzhen)
  • China (Chengdu)
  • China (Hong Kong)
  • Singapore
  • Japan (Tokyo)
Note If you need to create more than three connectors for each instance or use connectors in other regions, submit a ticket to request technical support for Message Queue for Apache Kafka .

Cross-region data synchronization

If you need to use a connector to synchronize data to an Alibaba Cloud service in another region over the Internet, you must enable Internet access for the connector. For more information, see Enable Internet access for a connector.

Note If you need to use MySQL source connectors to synchronize data across regions, you must first activate Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN). For more information, see Create a MySQL source connector.