Zookeeper is a distributed coordination service used for maintaining configuration information, naming, providing distributed synchronization, and group services in large and complex distributed systems. It acts as a centralized repository for information that enables synchronization across multiple servers. Zookeeper is crucial for ensuring the consistency and reliability of distributed applications by managing shared resources and providing a reliable infrastructure.
Zookeeper falls under the category of Open Source Service Discovery technologies. In this context, Zookeeper facilitates service discovery by allowing applications to register themselves and discover other services in a distributed environment. It plays a vital role in enabling the seamless communication and coordination between various components within a distributed system, ensuring efficient service discovery and management.
Zookeeper was founded in 2008 by Patrick Hunt, Mahadev Konar, Flavio Junqueira at Yahoo! to address the challenges of maintaining configuration information and providing synchronization services in large-scale distributed systems. Their motivation was to create a robust and reliable system that could handle the coordination needs of complex distributed applications efficiently.
In terms of current market share, Zookeeper remains a prominent player in the Open Source Service Discovery category, widely adopted by companies for ensuring the reliability and consistency of their distributed systems. With the increasing demand for scalable and reliable distributed coordination services, Zookeeper is expected to maintain its market share and potentially grow as more organizations rely on distributed systems for their operations.
