Announcing Redpanda Cloud for Microsoft Azure and Redpanda Enterprise version 24.2

This summer brings a wide range of Redpanda updates, from expanding the multi-cloud options for our managed services to simplifying the Apache Kafka^® developer experience and adding more enterprise-grade compliance features. Onward!

Azure limited availability for Redpanda Cloud 

Redpanda users are increasingly evaluating multi-cloud options, and we're stepping up with even more flexibility. The limited availability (LA) release of Azure for Redpanda Cloud's BYOC is now live in six Azure regions: centralus (Iowa), eastus (Virginia), eastus2 (Virginia), norwayeast (Oslo), uksouth (London), and ukwest (Cardiff).

The LA release supports Azure Private Link, enabling extra security for Redpanda Cloud users who need to ensure that traffic remains on Microsoft's private network. Users also inherit existing Redpanda Enterprise support for Tiered Storage using both Azure Blob Storage (ABS) and Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS). Clusters are SOC 2 Type 2 certified and receive 24/7 support from Redpanda. Limitations during the LA period include region coverage and the availability of certain performance tiers.

Redpanda Cloud Serverless updates

Redpanda Serverless continues to evolve. Currently, in LA release, we're adding features and functionality that help advance the service toward general availability (GA).

Schema Registry support

Widely adopted in the Kafka community, Schema Registry functionality enforces data governance and reduces complexity when developing streaming applications. Long available in other versions of Redpanda, the new fully managed Schema Registry in Redpanda Serverless will help new applications get up and running quickly with improved data quality.

99.5% uptime SLA

We have added a 99.5% uptime SLA to the LA version of Redpanda Serverless, making the service even more capable and reliable for spiky and intermittent workloads.

Cloud API

The beta release of the Redpanda Cloud API now supports Serverless. Developers can use the API to create Redpanda Serverless clusters dynamically from within their applications, and ops folks can enable new infrastructure-as-code use cases.

Billing info in the management console

Information about Serverless account usage and billing is now available in the UI. Users can check their current spend and compare usage against previous months.

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Developer experience enhancements in 24.2

We're always working to boost productivity with innovative Redpanda features, as well as meet developers where they are and help them work even better. Two recent examples in version 24.2 are in-broker Data Transforms and our built-in Schema Registry.

Data Transforms: offset replay, JS support, and console management

Kafka developers can now use Data Transforms to replay input topics from the beginning, expanding your options for custom data integration efforts. For example, processing historical data into a different format for new consumers or recreating lost data from an accidentally deleted topic.

We're also excited to help more developers unlock real-time efficiency for their applications. JavaScript and TypeScript join existing Data Transforms support for Rust and Go. Stay tuned to our SDK reference docs for language-specific examples, and check out our expanded guide on mastering Data Transforms in Redpanda!

Finally, Data Transforms are now surfaced in Redpanda Console, giving you a consolidated UI to easily manage all of your transformation functions.

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Schema Registry JSON support and active/passive registry

Use your data format of choice with Redpanda. We now support JSON Schema in Redpanda's Schema Registry, allowing you to leverage them in applications and manage and validate JSON schemas as they evolve, using both the standard REST API and rpk. JSON joins existing registry support for Avro and Protobuf. JSON-based messages can also benefit from server-side schema validation and can be easily manipulated within Data Transforms using any of our transforms SDKs.

To better support failover during disaster recovery, we now support the deployment of active/passive instances of Schema Registry, using the Schema Registry /mode API. Users can turn on read-only mode for the registry in a DR cluster to prevent schema drift when using MirrorMaker2 to replicate schemas between production and DR environments.

Compliance

As Redpanda continues to expand into more mission-critical customer use cases, we've been working hard behind the scenes to support the compliance requirements that come with this growth. Building on our SOC 2 Type 2 attestation from 2023, we're adding a FIPS-compliant binary, a HIPAA self-attestation, and expanded SOC 2 Type 2 controls in a new audit report.

FIPS-compliant binary for 24.2

Self-hosted editions of Redpanda Enterprise are now compliant with the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). With a FIPS-compliant binary, Redpanda can operate in highly-regulated industries, like finance and the public sector, and help customers meet their own requirements for FedRAMP accreditation. Adherence to FIPS 140-2 enforces cryptography best practices across Redpanda clusters, and support for SP 800-52 Rev. 2 enforces encryption of data in transit. (FIPS 140-3 is currently undergoing NIST validation.) You can learn how to configure Redpanda brokers for FIPS in our docs.

Expanding the Redpanda Cloud compliance journey

With recent wins in the healthcare market, Redpanda has completed our HIPAA self-attestation for Dedicated and BYOC deployments of Redpanda Cloud. (See more on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.) Separately, as part of our latest SOC 2 Type 2 report, independent auditors evaluated new controls for Serverless and managed deployments on Azure, in addition to controls for our Dedicated and BYOC-managed services on AWS and GCP.

Future Redpanda compliance efforts include the expansion of FIPS compliance to our Kubernetes Operator.

More updates in Redpanda Enterprise

We're not done just yet! August is packed with enterprise-grade Redpanda updates, so be sure to check the "What's New" section in our docs for version 24.2. Here's  one final highlight.

Client throughput quotas per node

When we say that Redpanda is API-compatible with Kafka, we mean it. In version 24.2, you can now set individual client or client group throughput quotas per node, closing a lower-level gap in our API coverage. These settings can be adjusted dynamically through the Kafka API and the rpk command-line tool and can be viewed inside the Redpanda Console. Read more on managing client throughput limits in our docs.

Hello world, from Redmond!

We have more goodies in store for our Microsoft friends, including Azure-specific connectors for Redpanda Connect and expanded region support.

In fact, we’ll expand the presence of Redpanda Cloud on Azure as we approach GA and are prioritizing the following additional regions: southafricanorth (Johannesburg), centralindia (Pune), southeastasia (Singapore), northeurope (Ireland), and germanywestcentral (Frankfurt). If you have specific region requirements, please let us know!

Be on the lookout for another Redpanda Cloud update in early fall. Until then, go try Schema Registry in Redpanda Serverless, or contact us to try Redpanda Enterprise! You can also grab the free Community Edition from GitHub or trial Redpanda Cloud Dedicated for free in AWS Marketplace. 

As always, if you have questions about the latest updates or want to chat with our team, join the Redpanda Community on Slack.