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Amazon MSK Express delivers Kafka data to Apache Iceberg streaming tables

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Amazon MSK Express can now continuously materialize Apache Kafka topics as Apache Iceberg tables on Amazon S3. This new capability reduces ingestion costs by up to 60% and query costs by up to 30% compared to self-managed deployments. It simplifies integration for near real-time analytics, eliminating the need for complex custom pipelines and addressing the small-file problem. The feature is available today in all AWS Regions offering MSK Express.

  • →Deliver Apache Kafka topics as Apache Iceberg tables on Amazon S3
  • →Reduce data ingestion and query costs for Kafka to S3
  • →Streamline real-time analytics with Iceberg tables
  • →High throughput and cost-effective data delivery
  • →Flexible querying and integration with existing tools
Features (1) ›
  • Deliver Apache Kafka topics as Apache Iceberg tables on Amazon S3

    Amazon MSK Express brokers can now continuously materialize Apache Kafka topics into Apache Iceberg tables stored on Amazon S3. This feature directly addresses the complexity of integrating Kafka with Iceberg for real-time analytics.

Enhancements (4) ›
  • Reduce data ingestion and query costs for Kafka to S3

    This capability can lower data ingestion costs by up to 60% and downstream query costs by up to 30% compared to self-managed solutions. It achieves this by optimizing data handling and compaction.

  • Streamline real-time analytics with Iceberg tables

    The feature eliminates the need for complex custom pipelines, format conversions, and manual management of small files that plague high-volume Kafka ingestion into S3. Intelligent inline compaction and concurrent writer coordination ensure predictable performance and data freshness.

  • High throughput and cost-effective data delivery

    Amazon MSK supports up to 10 GB/s throughput for delivery to Iceberg tables without increasing broker egress throughput. This avoids incremental infrastructure costs associated with scaling connector pipelines.

  • Flexible querying and integration with existing tools

    Data delivered to streaming tables can be queried or transformed using engines like Apache Spark, Trino, or Apache Flink. Users can enable the capability via the MSK console, APIs, or MCP server.

Notes (1) ›
  • Availability and getting started

    Amazon MSK data delivery to streaming tables is available now in all AWS Regions offering Amazon MSK Express. Documentation and pricing details are available in the Amazon MSK Developer Guide and pricing page.

Read the original announcement →

https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/07/aws-msk-streaming-tables-for-apache-iceberg

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