Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides fully managed and O&M-free connectors to help you synchronize data between Message Queue for Apache Kafka and other Alibaba Cloud services. This topic describes the types of and limits on connectors. This topic also shows you how to manage connectors and how to synchronize data between Alibaba Cloud services in different regions by using connectors.

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, bills are not generated for Message Queue for Apache Kafka when you use a connector to synchronize data between Message Queue for Apache Kafka and another Alibaba Cloud service. Alibaba Cloud does not provide a service level agreement (SLA) for the connector feature in public preview. For information about the SLAs and billing policies of the Alibaba Cloud services that are related to the connector feature, see the documentation of the services.

Connector types

Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides two categories of connectors:

  • Sink connectors: Sink connectors are used to synchronize data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to another Alibaba Cloud service.
    Connector type Description References
    Function Compute sink connector Synchronizes data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Function Compute. Create a Function Compute sink connector
    MaxCompute sink connector Synchronizes data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to MaxCompute. Create a MaxCompute sink connector
    OSS sink connector Synchronizes data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Object Storage Service (OSS). Create an OSS sink connector
    Elasticsearch sink connector Synchronizes data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Elasticsearch. Create an Elasticsearch sink connector
    DLA sink connector Synchronizes data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to Data Lake Analytics (DLA). Create a DLA sink connector
  • Source connectors: Source connectors are used to synchronize data from another Alibaba Cloud service to Message Queue for Apache Kafka.
    Connector type Description References
    MySQL source connector Synchronizes data from ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL to Message Queue for Apache Kafka. Create a MySQL source connector

Procedure

Perform the following steps to use a connector:

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

Limits

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

Item Limit
Number of connectors You can create up to three connectors for each instance.
Region
  • China (Hangzhou)
  • China (Shanghai)
  • China (Beijing)
  • China (Zhangjiakou)
  • China (Hohhot)
  • China (Shenzhen)
  • China (Chengdu)
  • China (Hong Kong)
  • Singapore (Singapore)
  • Japan (Tokyo)
Note To increase the maximum number of connectors allowed for your instance or use connectors in the regions that are not listed in the preceding table, submit a ticket to the technical support of Message Queue for Apache Kafka.

Cross-region data synchronization

You must enable Internet access for a connector to synchronize data from an Alibaba Cloud service in one region to an Alibaba Cloud service in another region over the Internet. 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.