Cluster Deployment Options - intelligent002/kafka-backup-offline GitHub Wiki

Below is a comparative overview of Kafka deployment strategies across different environments.

Aspect	Cloud-Managed Services	Kubernetes	Docker in VMs	Binary in VMs	Binary on Bare Metal	Docker Compose
Overall Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Definition	Fully managed Kafka services	Kafka operatorin Kubernetes	Kafka in docker in VMs	Kafka binaries in VMs	Kafka binaries on physical servers	Kafka in containers on single docker
Performance	★★★★★Excellent	★★★★Good	★★★★Good	★★★★Good	★★★★★Excellent	★★Poor
Performance Overhead	★★★★★Minimal	★★★Medium	★★★Medium	★★★★Moderate	★★★★★None	★★High
Operational Overhead	★★★★★Minimal	★★★★Moderate	★★★Medium	★★High	★Very High	★★High
Operational Confidence	★★★★★High	★★★★Good	★★★★Good	★★★Moderate	★★Low	★★Low
Resource Isolation	★★★★★Strong	★★★★Good	★★★★Good	★★★★Good	★★★★★Strong	★Very Weak
Updates	★★★★★Fully Automatic	★★★★Helm or Operators	★★★Docker images	★★Manual	★Manual	★★★Docker images
Backup	★★★★★Fully Automatic	★★Requires tooling	★★Manual	★★Manual	★Manual	★Manual
Recovery	★★★★On demand	★★Requires tooling	★★Manual	★★Manual	★Manual	★Manual
Scaling	★★★★★Auto-scales	★★★★Good	★★★Moderate	★★★Moderate	★★Poor	★Very Poor
Flexibility	★★★★Good	★★★★★Excellent	★★★★Good	★★Poor	★★Poor	★★Poor
Automation	★★★★★Excellent	★★★★★Excellent	★★★Moderate	★★Poor	★★Poor	★★Poor
Modern DevOps Practices	★★★★★Excellent	★★★★★Excellent	★★★Moderate	★★Poor	★Very Poor	★★Poor

If a cloud-managed service is not a viable option; and you prefer to avoid Kubernetes; your next best choice is to use virtual machines (VMs) and Docker inside them.