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Apache ZooKeeper VS Apache Thrift

Compare Apache ZooKeeper VS Apache Thrift and see what are their differences

Apache ZooKeeper logo Apache ZooKeeper

Apache ZooKeeper is an effort to develop and maintain an open-source server which enables highly reliable distributed coordination.

Apache Thrift logo Apache Thrift

An interface definition language and communication protocol for creating cross-language services.
  • Apache ZooKeeper Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-21
  • Apache Thrift Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-07-12

Apache ZooKeeper features and specs

  • High Availability
    ZooKeeper is designed to be highly available, with built-in redundancy and failover mechanisms that ensure minimal downtime.
  • Consistency
    It follows a strict consistency model, ensuring that reads reflect the most recent writes, which is crucial for coordination and configuration management.
  • Scalability
    ZooKeeper can handle a high number of read operations and can be scaled horizontally by adding more nodes to the ensemble.
  • Leader Election
    ZooKeeper simplifies the implementation of leader election processes, making it easier to design fault-tolerant distributed systems.
  • Cluster Management
    It aids in cluster management by providing mechanisms to track the status and configuration of nodes across a distributed system.
  • Watch Mechanism
    ZooKeeper provides a watch mechanism that allows clients to be notified of data changes, helping to keep state synchronized across systems.

Possible disadvantages of Apache ZooKeeper

  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing a ZooKeeper ensemble can be complex, requiring careful configuration and maintenance.
  • Resource Intensive
    ZooKeeper can be resource-intensive, requiring significant memory and CPU, especially in large deployments.
  • Write Performance
    While read operations are very fast, write operations can be slower due to the need to achieve consensus among ZooKeeper nodes.
  • Operational Overhead
    Managing ZooKeeper involves operational overhead, including monitoring, backups, and handling node failures.
  • Limited Programming Language Support
    Although ZooKeeper supports many major languages, the client libraries for some languages may not be as mature or well-supported as those for others.
  • Transaction Size
    ZooKeeper is not designed for very large data or complex transactions, limiting its use cases to lightweight coordination tasks.

Apache Thrift features and specs

  • Cross-Language Support
    Apache Thrift supports numerous programming languages including Java, Python, C++, Ruby, and more, enabling seamless communication between services written in different languages.
  • Efficient Serialization
    Thrift offers efficient binary serialization which helps in reducing the payload size and improves the communication speed between services.
  • Service Definition Flexibility
    Thrift provides a robust interface definition language (IDL) for defining and generating code for services with strict type checking, fostering strong contract interfaces.
  • Scalability
    Due to its lightweight and efficient serialization mechanisms, Apache Thrift can handle a large number of simultaneous client connections, making it suitable for scalable distributed systems.
  • Versioning Support
    Thrift supports service versioning which helps in evolving APIs without disrupting existing services or clients.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Thrift

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For new users, especially those not familiar with RPC frameworks, learning and understanding Thrift’s IDL and operations can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Documentation and Community Support
    Compared to some alternative technologies, Apache Thrift's documentation and community support can be less robust, which might pose challenges in troubleshooting or seeking guidance.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Thrift does not support some advanced features like streaming or multiplexing out of the box, which could limit its use in complex systems requiring these functionalities.
  • Infrastructure Overhead
    Integrating Thrift into an existing system might introduce infrastructure overhead both in initial setup and ongoing maintenance, especially when dealing with multiple languages.
  • Protocol Limitations
    While Thrift is highly efficient, its protocol limitations might require additional workarounds for certain data structures or transport mechanisms, complicating development.

Apache ZooKeeper videos

Why do we use Apache Zookeeper?

More videos:

  • Review - 4.5. Apache Zookeeper | Hands-On - Getting Started

Apache Thrift videos

Apache Thrift

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache ZooKeeper and Apache Thrift)
Web And Application Servers
Web Servers
66 66%
34% 34
Application Server
100 100%
0% 0
Load Balancer / Reverse Proxy

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache ZooKeeper should be more popular than Apache Thrift. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache ZooKeeper mentions (32)

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Apache Thrift mentions (13)

  • Show HN: TypeSchema – A JSON specification to describe data models
    I once read a paper about Apache/Meta Thrift [1,2]. It allows you to define data types/interfaces in a definition file and generate code for many programming languages. It was specifically designed for RPCs and microservices. [1]: https://thrift.apache.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Delving Deeper: Enriching Microservices with Golang with CloudWeGo
    While gRPC and Apache Thrift have served the microservice architecture well, CloudWeGo's advanced features and performance metrics set it apart as a promising open source solution for the future. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Reddit System Design/Architecture
    Services in general communicate via Thrift (and in some cases HTTP). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Universal type language!
    Protocol Buffers is the most popular one, but there are many others such as Apache Thrift and my own Typical. Source: about 2 years ago
  • You worked on it? Why is it slow then?
    RPC is not strictly OO, but you can think of RPC calls like method calls. In general it will reflect your interface design and doesn't have to be top-down, although a good project usually will look that way. A good contrast to REST where you use POST/PUT/GET/DELETE pattern on resources where as a procedure call could be a lot more flexible and potentially lighter weight. Think of it like defining methods in code... Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache ZooKeeper and Apache Thrift, you can also consider the following products

Apache Tomcat - An open source software implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies

Docker Hub - Docker Hub is a cloud-based registry service

Microsoft IIS - Internet Information Services is a web server for Microsoft Windows

Eureka - Eureka is a contact center and enterprise performance through speech analytics that immediately reveals insights from automated analysis of communications including calls, chat, email, texts, social media, surveys and more.

LiteSpeed Web Server - LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement.

Traefik - Load Balancer / Reverse Proxy