Comparative Evaluation of Java Virtual Machine-Based Message Queue Services: A Study on Kafka, Artemis, Pulsar, and RocketMQ

Abstract

Message Queue (MQ) services play a vital role in modern distributed systems as they enable asynchronous communication between services and facilitate the decoupling of various components of the system. Among the many MQ services available, Kafka, Apache Pulsar, Artemis, and RocketMQ are popular choices, each offering unique features and capabilities. As the adoption of MQ services continues to grow, choosing the appropriate service that can meet the requirements of the system has become increasingly challenging. Therefore, a comprehensive comparison of these services is crucial to determine the most suitable one for a specific use-case. This research paper presents a thorough evaluation of these MQ services based on critical metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, garbage collection, latency, and throughput. Based on our extensive review, no other research has delved into such a detailed evaluation, thereby establishing our work as a cornerstone in this field. The results of our study offer valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of each service. Our findings indicate that each message queue behaves differently inside the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This work aims to assist developers and researchers in strategically deploying and optimizing MQ services based on specific system and use-case requirements. In addition to providing machine metrics, our results demonstrate the performance of each message queue under different load scenarios, making it a valuable resource for those seeking to ensure the effective functioning of their MQ services. © 2023 by the authors.