ksqlDB

ksqlDB is an event streaming database purpose-built to help developers create stream processing applications on top of Apache Kafka®. Confluent Cloud provides a fully managed solution for creating and managing ksqlDB applications and clusters.

Confluent Cloud ksqlDB

You can provision ksqlDB applications by using the Confluent Cloud UI or the ccloud CLI.

For more information, see Confluent Cloud ksqlDB Quick Start.

Supported Features for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

  • Web interface for managing your ksqlDB cloud environment directly from your browser that exposes all critical ksqlDB information.
  • SQL editor to write, develop, and execute SQL queries with auto completion directly from the Web interface.
  • Integration with Confluent Cloud Schema Registry to leverage your existing schemas to use within your SQL queries.
  • Available in AWS, GCP, and Azure in all regions.

New Features for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

For the latest features in ksqlDB, see the 0.14.0 changelog.

Limitations for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

  • Currently, user-defined functions (UDFs, UDAFs, and UDTFs) aren’t supported. For more information, see Functions.
  • You can have a maximum of 20 continuous queries per application.
  • You can have a maximum of three ksqlDB applications. For more information, see Create a ksqlDB application in Confluent Cloud.
  • Pull queries are in preview.
  • Connect integration isn’t supported.
  • ccloud CLI version 0.198.0 or higher is required to create ksqlDB API keys for Confluent Cloud.

Pricing for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

The unit of pricing in Confluent Cloud ksqlDB is the Confluent Streaming Unit. A Confluent Streaming Unit is an abstract unit that represents the linearity of performance. For example, if a workload gets a certain level of throughput with four CSUs, you can expect about three times the throughput with 12 CSUs.

Confluent charges you in CSUs per hour.

You select the number of CSUs for your application at provisioning time. You can configure CSUs in blocks of four.

  • 4 CSUs is the minimum.
  • 12 CSUs is the initial maximum.
  • Your application can have 4, 8, or 12 CSUs.

Note

Confluent Streaming Unit pricing varies slightly depending on cloud provider and region. Pricing is shown in the web interface as part of ksqlDB provisioning so that you can see exact pricing for your cloud and region of choice.

Scaling CSUs for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

Scaling your application’s CSUs after initial provisioning is not supported. If you determine that your application requires more CSUs, you must provision a new application with the desired number of CSUs, and migrate to your new one.

Sizing guidelines for ksqlDB in Confluent Cloud

Four CSUs are sufficient for many workloads. In general, start with four CSUs and scale out if more capacity is needed. To identify when more CSUs are needed, check ksqlDB consumer lag. For more information, see Monitor persistent queries.

After your ksqlDB application is provisioned, you can only change the Confluent Streaming Unit allocation by migrating to a new one one with the desired number of CSUs.