Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides fully managed connectors to synchronize data between Message Queue for Apache Kafka and other Alibaba Cloud services. You do not need to perform O&M operations on these connectors. This topic describes the types of connectors and the procedure and limits of using connectors. This topic also describes how to use connectors to synchronize data between services in different 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. You are not charged on the Message Queue for Apache Kafka side 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. For information about SLAs and pricing of other services that are required to use the connector feature, see the documentation of the related services.

Types of connectors

Message Queue for Apache Kafka provides two types of connectors:

  • Sink connector: Sink connectors are used to synchronize data from Message Queue for Apache Kafka to other Alibaba Cloud services.
    Connector Description References
    FC 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
    Tablestore Sink Connector Synchronizes data from a data source topic in a Message Queue for Apache Kafka instance to Tablestore. Create a Tablestore sink connector
    AnalyticDB Sink Connector Synchronizes data from a data source topic in a Message Queue for Apache Kafka instance to AnalyticDB for MySQL or AnalyticDB for PostgreSQL. Create an AnalyticDB sink connector
  • Source connector: Source connectors are used to synchronize data from other Alibaba Cloud services to Message Queue for Apache Kafka.
    Connector Description References
    MySQL Source Connector Synchronizes data from ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL to Message Queue for Apache Kafka. Create a MySQL source connector

Procedure

To use a connector, perform the following steps:

  1. Enable the connector feature
  2. Create a connector
  3. Connector-related operations

Limits

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

Item Limit
Quantity You can create up to three connectors for each instance.
Region This feature is unavailable in some regions. For more information, see Supported regions.
Note To increase the maximum number of connectors that can be created for your instance or use connectors in unsupported regions, submit a ticket to contact Message Queue for Apache Kafka Technical Support.

Synchronize data across regions

If you need to use a connector to synchronize data between Alibaba Cloud services that are deployed in different regions 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 activate Cloud Enterprise Network. For more information, see Create a MySQL source connector.