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Kafka Administration Track • 2025 Edition

Apache Kafka Series: Master Kafka Administration with Monitoring on Azure Platform 2025

Deploy, configure, monitor, and scale production-ready Kafka clusters on Azure using Terraform, observability tooling, and automation assets trusted by platform teams.

8 modules15–22 hours of guided labsTerraform-first deploymentFull monitoring stack
Course Description

Master Infrastructure, Operations, and Monitoring for Kafka on Azure

Follow a practitioner-designed pathway that guides you from planning and provisioning to scaling and automating Kafka clusters. Every lab mirrors real-world governance needs and prepares you to hand over audit-ready artifacts.

Deploy a highly available Kafka cluster using Terraform on Azure.
Configure Kafka and ZooKeeper with production-ready best practices.
Monitor the cluster using Prometheus, Grafana, and Alertmanager.
Manage Kafka operations including replication and partitioning.
Scale the cluster horizontally without downtime.
Operate a production-grade Kafka platform with confidence.
Tooling Stack

End-to-End Automation & Observability

Apache Kafka 3.6.0 + ZooKeeper 3.8.4 on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Terraform, Azure Resource Manager, Azure CLI, and Network Security Groups
Prometheus 2.52.0, Alertmanager 0.27.2, Grafana, Blackbox, Node, and JMX Exporters
AKHQ, CMAK, ZooNavigator, Docker, and automation scripts
Course Modules

Hands-On Administration Curriculum

Each module includes guided labs, verified scripts, and checklists to validate your deployment and operational readiness.

2–3 hours

Module 1: Prerequisites & Planning

Ready to deploy with proper planning and course roadmap alignment.

Course overview, prerequisites, and system requirements
Azure account setup, local environment configuration
Kafka concepts, architecture, and pre-deployment checklist
1–2 hours

Module 2: Infrastructure Deployment

Complete Azure infrastructure deployed with Terraform.

Terraform configuration for Azure VNet, subnets, and NSGs
Provision 3 Kafka brokers, 3 ZooKeeper nodes, and a utility host
Resource naming patterns and infrastructure verification
3–4 hours

Module 3: Kafka & ZooKeeper Installation

Fully functional Kafka cluster with manual validation scripts.

Install ZooKeeper 3.8.4 and Kafka 3.6.0 with production defaults
Configure brokers, topics, partitions, and service management
Execute health checks and understand Module 8 automation options
2–3 hours

Module 4: Management Tools

Web-based administration with AKHQ, CMAK, and ZooNavigator.

Install Docker and deploy Kafka tooling UIs
Authenticate and explore cluster management interfaces
Operationalize visibility for teams and incident response
3–4 hours

Module 5: Monitoring Stack

End-to-end monitoring with dashboards and alerting workflows.

Install Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, and exporters
Enable Kafka and ZooKeeper metrics, dashboard imports, and alert testing
Configure Blackbox monitoring and on-call notifications
2–3 hours

Module 6: Kafka Operations

Practical operations skills for real-world Kafka workloads.

Ingest sample data and validate replication
Run broker failure drills, partition rebalancing, and topic migrations
Execute runbooks for common production incidents
2–3 hours

Module 7: Scaling & Admin Utilities

Confidently scale capacity and verify data distribution.

Add brokers via Terraform, rebalance partitions, and tune retention
Leverage admin utilities for topic inspection and auditing
Validate zero-downtime scaling and performance baselines
1–2 hours

Module 8: Automated Installation Scripts

Automated deployment options for rapid lab replication.

Deploy Kafka and ZooKeeper with reusable automation scripts
Adapt scripts for single VM, multi-node, and multi-cloud environments
Finalize post-install validation checks and governance artifacts
What You Will Build

Production-Ready Kafka Lab You Can Reuse and Scale

The architecture follows a reusable Azure lab pattern featuring three Kafka brokers, three ZooKeeper nodes, and a utility node hosting the monitoring and management stack.

  • 3-node Kafka broker cluster with high availability and production defaults.
  • 3-node ZooKeeper ensemble hardened for coordination and resilience.
  • Utility node hosting Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, AKHQ, CMAK, and ZooNavigator.
  • Automation scripts and Terraform modules to scale to four or more brokers.
Outcomes & Deliverables

Assets You Take Back to Work

Infrastructure-as-Code Terraform project ready for Azure and future security labs.
Complete monitoring and alerting stack with Grafana dashboards and drill-tested alerts.
Operational playbooks for scaling, partition management, and disaster drills.
Reusable automation scripts, documentation, and cost models for stakeholders.
Prerequisites & Skills

Make the Most of Every Lab Session

Validate your knowledge, accounts, and workstation setup before you begin to ensure Modules 2–8 run smoothly.

Required

  • Basic Linux CLI proficiency and networking fundamentals.
  • Active Azure subscription with permission to create compute resources.
  • Workstation with SSH client, Terraform, Azure CLI, and terminal access.

Recommended

  • Familiarity with Docker and containerized tooling.
  • Understanding of monitoring concepts and alerting workflows.
  • Experience with infrastructure automation tools.
Investment & Budget

Plan Your Azure Spend with Confidence

Use the development lab estimate as a baseline. Production deployments typically scale VM sizes, storage, and redundancy.

  • 3 Kafka brokers (Standard_B2s): ≈ $45/month
  • 3 ZooKeeper nodes (Standard_B1s): ≈ $15/month
  • 1 utility node (Standard_B2s): ≈ $15/month
  • Storage and networking overhead: ≈ $10/month
  • Total estimated lab cost: ≈ $85–100/month (development environment)

Production guidance often ranges from $300–500/month depending on redundancy, premium storage, and multi-region designs.

Learning Path

Course Roadmap from Planning to Automation

Move sequentially through planning, infrastructure deployment, manual builds, tooling enablement, operations, scaling, and automation.

Module 1: Planning & Setup
↓
Module 2: Infrastructure Deployment
↓
Module 3: Installation & Configuration
↓
Module 4: Management Tools
↓
Module 5: Monitoring Stack
↓
Module 6: Operations & Reliability
↓
Module 7: Scaling & Admin Utilities
↓
Module 8: Automation Scripts
Certification Path

Validate Your Skills Beyond the Lab

Confluent Certified Administrator for Apache Kafka (CCAK)
Apache Kafka Operations credentials
Azure Solutions Architect (infrastructure components)

The course equips you with the infrastructure, monitoring, and operational expertise required for industry-recognized Kafka and Azure credentials.

Bundle & Save

Pair With the Security Track for End-to-End Coverage

Complete the administration curriculum, then add the security track to implement TLS, Kerberos, ACLs, and mTLS across the same Azure lab environment.