Tech

Redis is an open-source, in-memory key-value store known for its high performance and versatility. It operates primarily as a cache or a quick-response database, storing data in memory to enable low-latency read and write operations. Redis supports various data structures, including strings, lists, sets, and hashes, making it suitable for a wide range of applications from caching to real-time analytics. Its design allows for rapid data access and manipulation, which is crucial for applications requiring high throughput and low latency. ...

Apache Kafka is widely used for building distributed, real-time data pipelines. However, running Kafka in a production environment requires a solid setup to ensure performance, reliability, and scalability. Strimzi simplifies deploying and managing Kafka clusters on Kubernetes or OpenShift, but to be truly production-ready, several factors need to be considered. In this article, we will cover essential best practices and optimizations to make your Kafka cluster ready for production, based on insights from the Strimzi Production Ready series and additional knowledge. ...

In 2014, security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in the HSBC mobile banking app for iOS. The app was found to be susceptible to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, allowing attackers to intercept and manipulate sensitive financial information. The root of the problem? The absence of SSL pinning. Without SSL pinning, the app was vulnerable to accepting any SSL certificate, even a forged one, which enabled attackers to eavesdrop on the communication between the app and HSBC’s servers. This security flaw put users’ banking information at risk and highlighted a significant gap in the app’s security framework. ...

Joshua had been waiting anxiously for weeks. As an aspiring clerk, he knew that the government official’s appointment order could arrive any day. This appointment was crucial—it would determine his future and career. Every morning, Joshua checked his local post office, hoping that today would be the day the letter arrived, confirming his new position. In many ways, Joshua’s experience mirrors how Kafka, a powerful distributed streaming platform, manages and delivers data. Just like how Joshua relies on the postal system to receive his appointment letter, modern data systems depend on Kafka to ensure that critical information reaches its intended recipients quickly and reliably. ...

A few weeks ago, I got a task from my manager that seemed straightforward at first: set up a development environment for one of our upcoming projects. The catch? It needed to be accessible over HTTPS, just like our production sites. Now, getting a certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) for a development environment didn’t make much sense, and we certainly didn’t want to incur extra costs or deal with the complexities of a CA for something internal. ...