After doing comprehensive research on the different MQ software options available on the market, I came to the conclusion that the top two are IBM MQ and Apache Kafka. Here’s why.
IBM MQ is a rich, highly reliable, and stable messaging platform. Without a doubt, you can feel comfortable that as soon as a message is pushed into your IBM MQ, it will be delivered to its destination without fail. You can even send thousands of messages at the same time without any issue. I think the best part about the solution is that messages never get lost, even if you have server or network problems.
In addition, the solution can be configured quite easily and it has a simple UI. It also has effective authorization management, with minimum effort needed for administration. The storage is flexible and you can easily connect to target systems. Whatsmore is the flexibility of the application is vast and very straightforward and it can do a lot of customizations and parameters. Furthermore, it can be easily integrated with other platforms. It is very easy to access when traveling, and does a fantastic job at securing your data that is at rest or on the move without altering applications.
The only downside I can think of is that IBM MQ is a bit expensive and sometimes IBM lacks quick response times if a support ticket is logged with them.
Apache Kafka comes in at a close second to IBM MQ. First of all, it is open source, has granular message retention options, and also provides good third-party support. I think one of its most valuable features is the architectural style of messaging or event streaming. Messages can be transported very quickly and can be changed very quickly, too. I also like it because messages are automatically stored based on parameter setup of retention policy. In addition, with Apache Kafka, messages can be configured from a few milliseconds up to years. Scalability and availability of messages can be changed with zero maintenance and you don't need extra clusters to achieve high availability for the messaging system like Veritas, PowerHA, or others. If that’s not enough, it has other advantages like great performance, and is easy to integrate with big data technologies. Like IBM MQ, due to its distributed nature, Apache Kafka is capable of operating very quickly and can handle millions of messages every second.
Apache Kafka can have a big memory and/or disk footprint depending on your scenario. Be prepared to delegate resources if your amount of data gets more and more. Kafka is lean by default, but it does require memory (in-memory storage) and disk (offloading) to keep your data. Apache Kafka also has an abundance of options for managing and maintaining queues, which is helpful.
The downside to Apache Kafka is that it is a community-made Java application that looks and feels kind of like it’s from the past century, so you may feel that it is a bit dated.
All in all, both solutions are fantastic but I would say IBM MQ is slightly more powerful than Apache Kafka.
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There is no best MQ software out there, just like there is no best programming language out there.
Actually, the best MQ software for you depends on three things: 1. The nature and SCOPE of the problem you want to solve. What types of applications do you want to connect, in what existing environment, at what data volumes, and what security/data privacy requirements must be met, etc.? 2. The RESOURCES/BUDGET you have. How much are you willing to pay for the new software, as well as the people and technical resources to implement and run the solution over the next 5+ years? 3. TIME duration you want for implementing the solution, given the scope and resources/budget.
Objectively evaluate your top MQ software products against the above three parameters, and the best MQ software, for you, will automatically emerge.
No question at all that Kafka and RabbitMQ dominate the market, but they also hold multiple challenges. If you do want the "big 4" without compromising simplicity and ease of use, I recommend Memphis.dev.
After doing comprehensive research on the different MQ software options available on the market, I came to the conclusion that the top two are IBM MQ and Apache Kafka. Here’s why.
IBM MQ is a rich, highly reliable, and stable messaging platform. Without a doubt, you can feel comfortable that as soon as a message is pushed into your IBM MQ, it will be delivered to its destination without fail. You can even send thousands of messages at the same time without any issue. I think the best part about the solution is that messages never get lost, even if you have server or network problems.
In addition, the solution can be configured quite easily and it has a simple UI. It also has effective authorization management, with minimum effort needed for administration. The storage is flexible and you can easily connect to target systems. Whatsmore is the flexibility of the application is vast and very straightforward and it can do a lot of customizations and parameters. Furthermore, it can be easily integrated with other platforms. It is very easy to access when traveling, and does a fantastic job at securing your data that is at rest or on the move without altering applications.
The only downside I can think of is that IBM MQ is a bit expensive and sometimes IBM lacks quick response times if a support ticket is logged with them.
Apache Kafka comes in at a close second to IBM MQ. First of all, it is open source, has granular message retention options, and also provides good third-party support. I think one of its most valuable features is the architectural style of messaging or event streaming. Messages can be transported very quickly and can be changed very quickly, too. I also like it because messages are automatically stored based on parameter setup of retention policy. In addition, with Apache Kafka, messages can be configured from a few milliseconds up to years. Scalability and availability of messages can be changed with zero maintenance and you don't need extra clusters to achieve high availability for the messaging system like Veritas, PowerHA, or others. If that’s not enough, it has other advantages like great performance, and is easy to integrate with big data technologies. Like IBM MQ, due to its distributed nature, Apache Kafka is capable of operating very quickly and can handle millions of messages every second.
Apache Kafka can have a big memory and/or disk footprint depending on your scenario. Be prepared to delegate resources if your amount of data gets more and more. Kafka is lean by default, but it does require memory (in-memory storage) and disk (offloading) to keep your data. Apache Kafka also has an abundance of options for managing and maintaining queues, which is helpful.
The downside to Apache Kafka is that it is a community-made Java application that looks and feels kind of like it’s from the past century, so you may feel that it is a bit dated.
All in all, both solutions are fantastic but I would say IBM MQ is slightly more powerful than Apache Kafka.
There is no best MQ software out there, just like there is no best programming language out there.
Actually, the best MQ software for you depends on three things:
1. The nature and SCOPE of the problem you want to solve. What types of applications do you want to connect, in what existing environment, at what data volumes, and what security/data privacy requirements must be met, etc.?
2. The RESOURCES/BUDGET you have. How much are you willing to pay for the new software, as well as the people and technical resources to implement and run the solution over the next 5+ years?
3. TIME duration you want for implementing the solution, given the scope and resources/budget.
Objectively evaluate your top MQ software products against the above three parameters, and the best MQ software, for you, will automatically emerge.
These four pillars -
No question at all that Kafka and RabbitMQ dominate the market, but they also hold multiple challenges. If you do want the "big 4" without compromising simplicity and ease of use, I recommend Memphis.dev.