Replication factor
A replication factor is the configured number of copies maintained for each replicated data item or resource.
Apache Kafka in Action
A replication factor is the number of copies maintained for each Kafka partition.
- How it is used
- Sets per-partition redundancy for a Kafka topic so another broker can take over after a broker failure.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the setting, demonstrates creation and inspection, and works through broker-failure trade-offs without detailing the replication protocol.
- Examples
- Uses product-price topics, `kafka-topics.sh` creation and inspection commands, and a three-broker failure scenario.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it with `kafka-topics.sh`, then assess how replica count and minimum in-sync replicas affect availability.
Read how Apache Kafka in Action explains replication factor →
Kafka for Architects
A replication factor is the configured number of copies maintained for each Kafka partition.
- How it is used
- Sets partition-copy counts to support data availability when brokers fail.
- How deep it goes
- Explains per-topic placement, broker-count limits, and write thresholds; stops short of replication internals.
- Examples
- Uses a three-broker Customer 360 cluster and AsyncAPI topic bindings specifying three replicas and two minimum in-sync replicas.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure it by choosing per-topic replica counts and in-sync thresholds against broker count and failure tolerance.
ScyllaDB in Action
A replication factor is the configured number of copies maintained for each piece of data.
- How it is used
- Configures how many data copies ScyllaDB maintains while supporting fault tolerance and tunable consistency.
- How deep it goes
- Explains replica placement, consistency acknowledgments, rack-aware distribution, and single-node failure, but defers broader operational configuration.
- Examples
- Uses three-node failure testing, three-replica keyspace creation, rack-aware multi-datacenter placement, and consistency-level comparisons.
- What you can do after
- Configure replication for a keyspace and select consistency levels that balance availability, failure tolerance, and consistency.
Kafka Streams in Action, Second Edition
A replication factor is the configured number of broker replicas maintained for each Kafka topic partition.
- How it is used
- Configures how many broker replicas Kafka maintains for each topic partition.
- How deep it goes
- Explains leader-follower replication, ISR membership, follower lag, and leader election.
- Examples
- Uses a one-partition local Docker topic with replication factor 1 and contrasts it with the recommended factor 3.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure Kafka topics with replication suited to local testing or broker-failure availability.
Read how Kafka Streams in Action, Second Edition explains replication factor →
Related concepts
- storage capacityconfigures · Storage capacity is the amount of persistent data a storage resource can hold or has available for use.
- topicconfigures · A topic is a named messaging destination or stream to which producers publish messages or records and from which consumers receive or read them.
- Hadoop Distributed File Systemconfigures · The Hadoop Distributed File System is a distributed file system designed to store large datasets across clusters of commodity computers.
- keyspaceconfigures · A keyspace is a system-defined namespace representing a set of addressable keys or, in some databases, the tables and settings grouped under such a namespace.
- Apache Kafkaconfigures · Apache Kafka is a distributed event-streaming platform for publishing, storing, processing, and consuming streams of records.
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