Skip to main content

Azure Event Hubs

Azure Event Hubs is a native data-streaming service in the cloud that can stream millions of events per second, with low latency, from any source to any destination. Event Hubs is compatible with Apache Kafka. It enables you to run existing Kafka workloads without any code changes.

Businesses can use Event Hubs to ingest and store streaming data. By using streaming data, businesses can gain valuable insights, drive real-time analytics, and respond to events as they happen. They can use this data to enhance their overall efficiency and customer experience.

Azure Event Hubs: Data streaming platform with Kafka support - Azure Event Hubs | Microsoft Learn

Comparison of Event hubs and Confluent Cloud​

Azure Event Hubs​

Azure Event Hubs is a fully managed, real-time data ingestion service designed for large-scale data streaming. It offers seamless integration with the Azure ecosystem, making it ideal for applications within the Azure environment. Event Hubs supports some Kafka APIs, allowing Kafka clients to interact with them without significant modifications.

Confluent Cloud​

Confluent Cloud is a fully managed data streaming platform built on Apache Kafka. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for data streaming, including stream processing with Apache Flink and data governance features. Confluent Cloud integrates seamlessly with Azure services, providing unified security, management, and billing experience. It supports the full range of Kafka APIs, ensuring compatibility with existing Kafka clients and applications.

Key Differences​

  • Kafka Compatibility: Event Hubs offers partial Kafka API compatibility, which may not support all Kafka features. In contrast, Confluent Cloud provides full Kafka API compatibility, ensuring seamless integration with existing Kafka clients.
  • Scalability and Features: Event Hubs can elastically scale but has certain limitations in scalability and advanced features. Confluent Cloud offers a comprehensive suite of tools for data streaming, including stream processing and data governance features, making it suitable for complex enterprise architectures.
  • Integration with Azure: Both services integrate with Azure, but Confluent Cloud offers a more unified security, management, and billing experience, as well as seamless integration with various Azure services.