Smart endpoints, dumb pipes places processing and integration logic in communicating endpoints while transport channels only carry messages. In Kafka-based architectures, brokers transport messages without interpreting them, so endpoints own the processing. section 7.1.1
The pattern contrasts with enterprise service bus designs:
- Avoids concentrating validation, authorization, encryption, routing, and auditing inside a logically centralized middleware component. section 7.1.1
- Keeps endpoint-specific transformation and business processing decentralized, while cross-cutting integration concerns can be standardized through configurable infrastructure. section 7.1.1
- Uses a service mesh to separate business logic from integration responsibilities such as encryption, auditing, retries, and observability. section 7.1.1
Decentralized Kafka architecture
A Kafka deployment can use brokers purely as communication channels, with each endpoint handling its own processing while messages flow through the pipes. section 7.1.1
Figure 7.1 All the logic resides on the smart endpoints; the pipes serve only for transport.
Shows processing concentrated at smart endpoints while pipes provide transport only. section 7.1.1
