Stream Data from Apache Kafka to Azure Data Explorer

This post demonstrates how to stream data from Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud to Azure Data Explorer using the Kafka Connect Kusto Sink Connector. It provides a practical example using the Chicago crimes dataset, detailing the setup steps for both Confluent Cloud and Azure Data Explorer, including provisioning clusters, creating topics and tables, and configuring the connector. The post also outlines the process of building and deploying a custom Kafka Connect worker image on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to host the Kusto sink connector, as it is not yet a managed connector offering.