What is Apache NiFi?
Apache NiFi is a powerful, enterprise-grade dataflow management system designed to automate the flow of data between systems. Originally developed by the NSA and later open-sourced, NiFi provides a web-based user interface to design, control, and monitor data flows with features like visual flow design, data provenance, and extensible architecture.
NiFi excels at reliable and secure data ingestion, routing, transformation, and delivery at scale. Its unique strengths include guaranteed delivery, back pressure handling, prioritized queuing, flow-specific QoS, and data lineage tracking, making it ideal for complex enterprise data integration scenarios.
NiFi Flow Performance Calculator
Memory: 22,980 MB
FlowFile Repo: 36000 GB/hr
Content Repo: 3515625 GB/hr
Provenance: 86400 GB/day
NiFi Core Components
Processors
300+ built-in processors for data operations and transformations.
• ConvertRecord, TransformJSON
• RouteOnAttribute, RouteOnContent
• ExecuteSQL, PutDatabaseRecord
• InvokeHTTP, ListenHTTP
Controller Services
Shared services for database connections, schemas, and SSL contexts.
• AvroSchemaRegistry
• StandardSSLContextService
• DistributedMapCacheService
• RecordReaderService
Process Groups
Logical grouping of processors for modular flow design.
• Nested process groups
• Template support
• Variable registry
• Flow versioning
FlowFile Repository
Persistent WAL for FlowFile state and attributes.
• Checkpoint mechanism
• Swappable storage
• Automatic recovery
• Performance tuning
Key NiFi Features
Data Provenance
Complete audit trail and lineage tracking for every piece of data flowing through the system.
# Provenance Repository Configuration
nifi.provenance.repository.max.storage.time=7 days
nifi.provenance.repository.max.storage.size=10 GB
nifi.provenance.repository.rollover.time=5 mins
nifi.provenance.repository.rollover.size=100 MB
# Provenance indexing
nifi.provenance.repository.indexed.fields=
EventType,FlowFileUUID,Filename,
ProcessorID,RelationshipClustering
Zero-Master clustering with automatic load balancing and failover capabilities.
# Cluster node configuration
nifi.cluster.is.node=true
nifi.cluster.node.address=node1.example.com
nifi.cluster.node.protocol.port=11443
nifi.cluster.load.balance.port=6342
# Zookeeper for cluster coordination
nifi.zookeeper.connect.string=
zk1:2181,zk2:2181,zk3:2181
nifi.zookeeper.connect.timeout=10 secs
nifi.zookeeper.session.timeout=10 secsSecurity
Enterprise-grade security with SSL/TLS, authentication, and fine-grained authorization.
# SSL/TLS Configuration
nifi.web.https.host=0.0.0.0
nifi.web.https.port=8443
nifi.security.keystore=./conf/keystore.jks
nifi.security.keystoreType=JKS
nifi.security.truststore=./conf/truststore.jks
# Authentication
nifi.security.user.login.identity.provider=ldap-provider
nifi.security.user.authorizer=managed-authorizerReal-World NiFi Implementations
Hortonworks (Cloudera)
Enterprise data flow management for Fortune 500 companies.
- • 1000+ node deployments
- • Petabyte-scale data movement
- • Multi-datacenter replication
- • IoT data ingestion at scale
NASA JPL
Satellite data processing and distribution pipeline.
- • Real-time satellite telemetry
- • Scientific data distribution
- • Multi-format data conversion
- • Global research collaboration
Lockheed Martin
Secure data integration across classified systems.
- • Cross-domain data transfer
- • Security labeling and filtering
- • Audit and compliance tracking
- • Real-time threat detection
Macquarie Bank
Financial data processing and regulatory reporting.
- • Transaction processing pipeline
- • Real-time fraud detection
- • Regulatory compliance reporting
- • Multi-region data synchronization
Common NiFi Use Cases
Data Ingestion
- • IoT sensor data collection
- • Log file aggregation
- • Database CDC (Change Data Capture)
- • API data extraction
- • File system monitoring
- • Message queue consumption
Data Distribution
- • Multi-destination routing
- • Content-based routing
- • Load balancing across systems
- • Site-to-site transfers
- • Cloud data migration
- • Edge-to-core data movement
NiFi Best Practices
✅ Do
- • Use Process Groups for modular design
- • Configure appropriate back pressure settings
- • Implement proper error handling flows
- • Use Controller Services for shared resources
- • Monitor queue sizes and performance metrics
- • Version control your flows with Registry
❌ Don't
- • Create overly complex single processors
- • Ignore provenance repository sizing
- • Use GetFile for production ingestion
- • Skip flow testing in development
- • Neglect security configurations
- • Overlook repository maintenance