title: Apache Kafka: Can we restrict message to be read by only 1 consumer?
body: <p>I am new to Kafka and the scenario that i am trying to achieve using Apache Kafka is:</p>
  
  <p>I have a 3 producers who are sending instructions to a particular topic in Kafka. I have around 35 consumers who picks up one instruction at a time and performs the task mentioned in the instruction set. Once completed it will post the updates to an another topic in Kafka.</p>
  
  <p>Requirements.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><strong>An instruction read by 1 consumer should not be given to another for processing</strong></li>
  <li>Message Priority * - Not a mandatory requirement</li>
  <li>Only 1 instruction should be picked up at a time for processing.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I know that this can be achieved using JMS. But my organisation already has a Kafka setup ready as part of Cloud-era HDFS setup. So the using Kafka to achieve this is most preferred.</p>
  
  <p>I have googled around to find a solution for this. But i was not able to find a proper answer to my 1st and most important requirement.</p>
  
  <p>Any suggestions? And thanks in advance.!</p>