# Kafka – DigitalOcean Documentation

> Kafka is an open-source distributed event and stream-processing platform built to process demanding real-time data feeds. It is inherently scalable, with high throughput and availability.



## Getting Started with Kafka

Quickstarts and intermediate tutorials to get started.

- [Kafka Quickstart](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/getting-started/quickstart/index.html.md): Just the essentials to go from zero to working in a few minutes.

## Kafka How-Tos

Guides on how to get started with Kafka managed clusters, how to modify users and databases, and how to improve performance and high availability.

- [How to Create Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/create/index.html.md): Create a Kafka cluster from the DigitalOcean Control Panel.
- [How to Connect to Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/connect/index.html.md): Connect to Kafka clusters from the command line or other applications.
- [How to Create Kafka Topics](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/create-topics/index.html.md): Create a Kafka Topic from the DigitalOcean Control Panel.
- [How to Resize Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/resize/index.html.md): Increase the size of your database cluster to accommodate your data needs.
- [How to Secure Kafka Managed Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/secure/index.html.md): Add additional security to a Kafka managed database cluster by restricting incoming connections and using encrypted connections.
- [How to Schedule Automatic Software Updates for Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/schedule-updates/index.html.md): Customize the maintenance window for automatic software updates to your database cluster.
- [How to Manage Kafka Users in a Database Cluster](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/manage-users-and-privileges/index.html.md): Create and delete a database cluster's databases and database users from the DigitalOcean Control Panel.
- [How to Monitor Kafka Database Performance](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/monitor-databases/index.html.md): Access and interpret Kafka database performance metrics.
- [How to Monitor Kafka Database Cluster Performance](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/monitor-clusters/index.html.md): Access and understand performance metrics for nodes in a database cluster.
- [How to Set Up Kafka Cluster Monitoring Alerts](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/set-up-alerts/index.html.md): Configure alert policies based on database cluster performance metrics.
- [How to Forward Logs from a Kafka Cluster](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/forward-logs/index.html.md): Forward database logs to OpenSearch, Elasticsearch, or Rsyslog.
- [How to Enable Schema Registry on Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/enable-schema-registry/index.html.md): Enable schema registry to protect your cluster when sending or receiving incorrect, modified, or corrupt data.
- [How to Destroy Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/destroy/index.html.md): Destroy a database cluster to permanently and irreversibly destroy the cluster, its contents, and its automated backups.
- [How to Tag Kafka Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/tag/index.html.md): Organize Kafka databases clusters with tags to group and filter databases or create monitoring alert policies for multiple databases at once.
- [How to Reconfigure Kafka Database Clusters](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/how-to/reconfigure/index.html.md): Edit your database engine's configuration and parameters via the API.

## Kafka Concepts

Explanations and definitions of core concepts in Kafka.

- [Best Practices](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/concepts/best-practices/index.html.md): Recommended practices to implement when setting up and running your Kafka clusters.
- [Shared Responsibility Model](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/concepts/responsibility-model/index.html.md): Description of DigitalOcean's responsibilities as a managed database provider.

## Kafka Details

Features, plans and pricing, availability, limits, known issues, and more.

- [Kafka Features](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/details/features/index.html.md): Features for Kafka clusters.
- [Kafka Pricing](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/details/pricing/index.html.md): Pricing for DigitalOcean Managed Kafka Clusters.
- [Kafka Availability](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/details/availability/index.html.md): Regional datacenter availability for Kafka clusters.
- [Kafka Limits](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/details/limits/index.html.md): Limits and known issues for Kafka clusters.
- [Types of Cluster Notifications](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/kafka/details/notifications/index.html.md): Common alerts you might receive about your database cluster's performance.