What is Apache Kafka Backup?

Apache Kafka's backup mechanisms are essential components of a robust data infrastructure strategy. At its core, Kafka backup involves creating redundant copies of both the data stored in topics and the critical metadata that maintains cluster configuration. The process includes backing up topic data, consumer offsets, configuration settings, and ACLs (Access Control Lists). The backup strategy must account for Kafka's log segments, partitions, and replication mechanisms while ensuring consistency across the distributed system.