Low-Latency Messaging for Capital Markets: Aeron vs Kafka vs Chronicle Queue
If you are building a trading system, the choice of messaging layer is the single most consequential infrastructure decision you will make. Pick the right one and your trading desk gets real-time market data with predictable microsecond latency. Pick the wrong one and you will spend years fighting garbage collection pauses, backpressure bottlenecks, and missed trade opportunities. We have deployed all three of these messaging systems in production at tier-one banks — Aeron for exchange gateway connectivity, Kafka for settlement and risk workflows, and Chronicle Queue for deterministic journaling on the trading floor. Here is what we learned. ...