What is Apache BookKeeper?
Apache BookKeeper is an open-source scalable, fault-tolerant storage service that stores logs or streams. Developers use Apache BookKeeper to build reliable data pipelines and distributed systems, where logs are used as a messaging mechanism between services.
Being a distributed system, Apache BookKeeper provides high availability, fault tolerance, and durability to the stored data. As an append-only log storage system, Apache BookKeeper is optimized for write-heavy workloads and is useful for scenarios such as distributed databases, message logs, and transaction logs.
How Apache BookKeeper works
Apache BookKeeper uses the concept of Logs, which can be thought of as ordered sequences of records. Clients can write records to Logs, and multiple clients can write to the same Log simultaneously. Apache BookKeeper stores Logs on a distributed set of BookKeeper servers called Bookies.
Before data is committed to Bookies, it is stored in the Ledger cache. This cache resides on client machines and provides high write throughput and low latency. Once the Ledger cache is full, the client sends the data to the Bookies for storage. Bookies support replication of data, which enables distributed data processing, and also provides high write throughput and low latency for Writes. Bookies also provide fault tolerance by replicating the data on different machines.
Why Apache BookKeeper is important
Apache BookKeeper provides high availability and fault tolerance for Logs, which are often used as a messaging mechanism between services in distributed systems. Apache BookKeeper also ensures the fast storage of write-heavy workloads, which makes it useful for scenarios such as distributed databases and message systems.
Apache BookKeeper provides multiple features that make it a useful tool for modern data-intensive applications. These features include:
- High throughput and low latency writes: Apache BookKeeper provides high-performance write throughput and low latency.
- Durability: Apache BookKeeper ensures data is durable in case of hardware failures.
- Scalability: Apache BookKeeper can scale horizontally to accommodate growing amounts of data.
- Resiliency: Apache BookKeeper supports fault-tolerant replication to ensure data resiliency in case of machine failures.
- Flexibility: Apache BookKeeper can be used alongside other distributed systems to provide high-performance and reliable data storage.
The most important Apache BookKeeper use cases
Apache BookKeeper is a versatile tool that can be used in a variety of applications. Some of the most common use cases for Apache BookKeeper are:
- Message logs: Apache BookKeeper provides the ability to store high volumes of messages in a fault-tolerant and durable way, making it a useful tool for messaging systems such as Apache Kafka.
- Distributed databases: Apache BookKeeper can be used to store transaction logs for distributed databases such as Apache Cassandra or Apache HBase, providing durability and fault tolerance for write-heavy workloads.
- Stream processing: Apache BookKeeper can be used to store data streams, providing a reliable and fault-tolerant way to store data for stream processing applications.
- Event sourcing: Apache BookKeeper can be used for event sourcing, which is the practice of storing changes to an application state as an immutable log.
Other technologies or terms that are closely related to Apache BookKeeper
Some technologies that are closely related to Apache BookKeeper include:
- Apache Kafka: Apache Kafka is a distributed streaming platform that is often used alongside Apache BookKeeper for messaging and stream processing applications.
- Apache ZooKeeper: Apache ZooKeeper is a distributed coordination service that is often used alongside Apache BookKeeper to ensure high availability and fault tolerance.
- Apache Flink: Apache Flink is a distributed stream processing framework that can be used with Apache BookKeeper for high-performance and reliable stream processing.
Why Dremio users would be interested in Apache BookKeeper
Apache BookKeeper can be used as a reliable and durable data storage solution for Dremio, providing performance, scalability, and durability for write-heavy workloads. Dremio users can benefit from Apache BookKeeper's ability to store message logs, transaction logs, and data streams in a fault-tolerant and durable way. Additionally, Apache BookKeeper's integration with other distributed systems such as Apache Kafka and Apache ZooKeeper makes it a useful tool for building modern data-intensive applications.
