docs(inkless:design): add diskless-managed rf feature design by jeqo · Pull Request #478 · aiven/inkless

jeqo · 2026-01-14T11:48:25Z

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Pull request overview

This PR adds a comprehensive design document for implementing managed replication factor (RF) for diskless topics in the Inkless system. The document proposes transitioning from the current RF=1 with faked metadata to RF=rack_count with real KRaft-managed replicas, enabling bidirectional topic migration and standard RLM integration.

Changes:

Adds new DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md design document with detailed approach comparison, cost analysis, and implementation plan
Updates DESIGN.md to reference the new design document for Stream 4: Multi-Replica Model for Diskless Topics

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md	New comprehensive design document proposing RF=rack_count approach with transformer-first availability, including motivation, design details, implementation path (6-8 weeks), and rejected alternatives
docs/inkless/ts-unification/DESIGN.md	Adds cross-references to the new DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md document in the Multi-Replica Model section and References section

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docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md

ivanyu · 2026-01-20T17:00:38Z

docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md

+
+| Trade-off | Accepted | Rationale |
+|-----------|----------|-----------|
+| KRaft metadata may show offline brokers | Yes | Availability is not blocked; eventual consistency is acceptable |


KRaft metadata may show offline brokers

Internally or to the clients?

To admin operations/metrics (e.g. topic describe), not to clients.
I'll clarify this

See 2a0ebee

Ensure cross-az is the last resort when routing requests, and that replica placement is fully decoupled.

jeqo · 2026-01-20T20:21:45Z

Moving it to draft to keep it as a live doc while this feature is developed.

Add diskless.managed.rf.enable config (default: false) to control whether diskless topics use managed replicas with RF=rack_count or legacy RF=1. This config only affects topic creation. When enabled, new diskless topics will be created with one replica per rack using standard KRaft placement. Part of Phase 1: Diskless Managed Replicas (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

When diskless.managed.rf.enable=true, new diskless topics are created with RF=rack_count using standard KRaft replica placement instead of legacy RF=1. Changes: - Compute RF from rack cardinality via rackCardinality() - Use standard replicaPlacer.place() for rack-aware assignment - Allow manual replica assignments when managed replicas enabled - Add checkstyle suppression for extended createTopic method Phase 1 limitations: - Add Partitions inherits RF from existing partitions (Phase 3) - Transformer not updated, uses legacy routing (Phase 2) - Integration tests deferred to Phase 2 (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

Add diskless.managed.rf.enable config (default: false) to control whether diskless topics use managed replicas with RF=rack_count or legacy RF=1. This config only affects topic creation. When enabled, new diskless topics will be created with one replica per rack using standard KRaft placement. Part of Phase 1: Diskless Managed Replicas (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

When diskless.managed.rf.enable=true, new diskless topics are created with RF=rack_count using standard KRaft replica placement instead of legacy RF=1. Changes: - Compute RF from rack cardinality via rackCardinality() - Use standard replicaPlacer.place() for rack-aware assignment - Allow manual replica assignments when managed replicas enabled - Add checkstyle suppression for extended createTopic method Phase 1 limitations: - Add Partitions inherits RF from existing partitions (Phase 3) - Transformer not updated, uses legacy routing (Phase 2) - Integration tests deferred to Phase 2 (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

Replace placeholder metrics with actual implemented metric names: - Controller metrics using KafkaController MBean naming - Transformer metrics using ClientAzAwarenessMetrics MBean - Add note explaining logging-based approach for placement quality to avoid high-cardinality metric concerns Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Add diskless.managed.rf.enable config (default: false) to control whether diskless topics use managed replicas with RF=rack_count or legacy RF=1. This config only affects topic creation. When enabled, new diskless topics will be created with one replica per rack using standard KRaft placement. Part of Phase 1: Diskless Managed Replicas (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

When diskless.managed.rf.enable=true, new diskless topics are created with RF=rack_count using standard KRaft replica placement instead of legacy RF=1. Changes: - Compute RF from rack cardinality via rackCardinality() - Use standard replicaPlacer.place() for rack-aware assignment - Allow manual replica assignments when managed replicas enabled - Add checkstyle suppression for extended createTopic method Phase 1 limitations: - Add Partitions inherits RF from existing partitions (Phase 3) - Transformer not updated, uses legacy routing (Phase 2) - Integration tests deferred to Phase 2 (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

Add diskless.managed.rf.enable config (default: false) to control whether diskless topics use managed replicas with RF=rack_count or legacy RF=1. This config only affects topic creation. When enabled, new diskless topics will be created with one replica per rack using standard KRaft placement. Part of Phase 1: Diskless Managed Replicas (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

When diskless.managed.rf.enable=true, new diskless topics are created with RF=rack_count using standard KRaft replica placement instead of legacy RF=1. Changes: - Compute RF from rack cardinality via rackCardinality() - Use standard replicaPlacer.place() for rack-aware assignment - Allow manual replica assignments when managed replicas enabled - Add checkstyle suppression for extended createTopic method Phase 1 limitations: - Add Partitions inherits RF from existing partitions (Phase 3) - Transformer not updated, uses legacy routing (Phase 2) - Integration tests deferred to Phase 2 (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

Add diskless.managed.rf.enable config (default: false) to control whether diskless topics use managed replicas with RF=rack_count or legacy RF=1. This config only affects topic creation. When enabled, new diskless topics will be created with one replica per rack using standard KRaft placement. Part of Phase 1: Diskless Managed Replicas (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

When diskless.managed.rf.enable=true, new diskless topics are created with RF=rack_count using standard KRaft replica placement instead of legacy RF=1. Changes: - Compute RF from rack cardinality via rackCardinality() - Use standard replicaPlacer.place() for rack-aware assignment - Allow manual replica assignments when managed replicas enabled - Add checkstyle suppression for extended createTopic method Phase 1 limitations: - Add Partitions inherits RF from existing partitions (Phase 3) - Transformer not updated, uses legacy routing (Phase 2) - Integration tests deferred to Phase 2 (See #478 docs/inkless/ts-unification/DISKLESS_MANAGED_RF.md)

jeqo added 14 commits January 14, 2026 11:35

add diskless managed rf feature design

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add cross reference

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jeqo marked this pull request as ready for review January 14, 2026 12:03

jeqo requested a review from Copilot January 14, 2026 13:25

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jeqo added 4 commits January 14, 2026 15:57

fixup! add diskless managed rf feature design

1a6a585

updates from phase 0

a609b8d

results from phase 0

80ec6ad

add controller server-config to gate feature

8b2a950

ivanyu reviewed Jan 20, 2026

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jeqo added 3 commits January 20, 2026 22:16

fixup! add controller server-config to gate feature

00628a5

clarify az-availability over replica placement consistency

2a0ebee

Ensure cross-az is the last resort when routing requests, and that replica placement is fully decoupled.

adjust dependencies on other work streams and phases

cedfb4d

jeqo marked this pull request as draft January 20, 2026 20:21

jeqo added 2 commits January 21, 2026 17:45

fixup! add controller server-config to gate feature

e636ef5

adjust scope for phase 1

4990f9b

add future enhancement section for load-balance within same az

79827b3

jeqo mentioned this pull request Jan 22, 2026

feat(metadata:diskless): implement managed replicas for diskless topics #492

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jeqo mentioned this pull request Feb 9, 2026

feat(metadata:diskless): add controller metrics for diskless topics #503

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docs(inkless:design): add diskless-managed rf feature design #478

docs(inkless:design): add diskless-managed rf feature design #478
jeqo wants to merge 25 commits intodesign/ts-unificationfrom
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