Standalone vs distributed mode in Kafka - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of Kafka standalone mode configuration

Consider a Kafka setup running in standalone mode with a single broker. What will be the output of the following command that lists topics?

Kafka

kafka-topics.sh --list --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

A Error: Could not connect to server

B No topics found

C List of all topics created on the single broker

D List of topics from all brokers in the cluster

💡 Hint

In standalone mode, there is only one broker managing all topics.

In standalone mode, Kafka runs a single broker that manages all topics. The command lists all topics on that broker.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Difference in fault tolerance between standalone and distributed mode

Which statement correctly describes the fault tolerance difference between Kafka's standalone and distributed modes?

A Distributed mode allows replication of partitions across brokers for fault tolerance

B Standalone mode provides automatic failover using multiple brokers

C Standalone mode replicates data across multiple machines

D Distributed mode runs only one broker, so no fault tolerance

💡 Hint

Think about how Kafka handles data safety in a cluster.

Distributed mode uses multiple brokers and replicates partitions to provide fault tolerance. Standalone mode has only one broker and no replication.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in distributed mode broker configuration

Given this broker configuration snippet for distributed mode, what error will occur? broker.id=0 listeners=PLAINTEXT://:9092 log.dirs=/tmp/kafka-logs zookeeper.connect=localhost:2181 Options:

A Zookeeper connection error due to wrong port

B Kafka broker starts normally and joins the cluster

C Syntax error in configuration file

D Kafka broker fails to start due to missing advertised.listeners

💡 Hint

In distributed mode, brokers must advertise their address to clients and other brokers.

Without advertised.listeners, clients cannot connect properly, causing startup issues in distributed mode.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Syntax error in standalone mode startup command

Which option shows the correct syntax to start Kafka in standalone mode using the command line?

A kafka-server-start.sh -daemon config/server.properties

B kafka-server-start.sh --config config/server.properties

C kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties

D kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties --standalone

💡 Hint

The -daemon flag runs Kafka in the background.

Option A correctly uses the -daemon flag to start Kafka with the given config file in standalone mode.

🚀 Application

expert

Choosing mode for a fault-tolerant Kafka deployment

You need to deploy Kafka for a critical application requiring high availability and fault tolerance. Which mode should you choose and why?

A Standalone mode, because it is simpler and faster to set up

B Distributed mode, because it supports partition replication and failover

C Standalone mode, because it uses less memory and CPU

D Distributed mode, because it runs on a single machine with multiple brokers

💡 Hint

Consider how Kafka handles failures and data safety.

Distributed mode allows multiple brokers with replicated partitions, providing fault tolerance and high availability.