<a id="self-managed-connectors-cloud-overview"></a>

# Self-Managed Connectors on Confluent Cloud

Confluent Cloud supports a hybrid model for connectors. You can run your own
connectors in a self-managed Connect cluster and still get unified
visibility into them from Confluent Cloud. Unified Stream Manager (USM) extends this
visibility to self-managed connectors that produce to and consume from a
Confluent Cloud Kafka cluster.

This lets you run a connector wherever your data lives, such as inside your
own network next to an on-premises or otherwise private data source or sink,
while the Kafka cluster it produces to and consumes from remains a fully
managed Confluent Cloud cluster.

This capability applies only when the Connect cluster’s metadata cluster
is Confluent Cloud Kafka. If your Connect cluster instead produces to and
consumes from a self-managed Confluent Platform Kafka cluster, see [Confluent Platform Kafka as the Metadata Cluster](../../usm/register-connect/platform-kafka.md#register-connect)
and [Monitor Confluent Platform Connectors with USM](../../usm/monitor/connectors.md#platform-connectors) instead.

New to USM? Start with the [Unified Stream Manager overview](../../usm/overview.md#cloud-usm-overview) to learn what USM is and how it connects your
self-managed environment to Confluent Cloud.

## What you can do

USM gives you monitoring visibility into self-managed
connectors. You can monitor your self-managed connectors from
the same **Connectors** page that lists your Confluent Cloud fully managed
connectors, including connector status, throughput, and per-connector
health and performance details.
For monitoring details, see [Monitor Self-Managed Connectors Running Against Confluent Cloud Kafka](../../usm/monitor/connectors-cloud-kafka.md#platform-connectors-cloud).

## Before you begin

* Ensure that your Confluent Cloud environment has the [Advanced Governance
  package](../../stream-governance/packages.md#stream-gov-packages), which USM requires.
* Deploy the USM Agent in your self-managed environment. The Agent
  collects connector metadata and metrics and sends them to Confluent Cloud over a
  secure network connection. A registered Connect cluster shows no
  connector data until the Agent is running. For setup instructions, see
  [Deploy the USM Agent](../../usm/register/deploy-agent.md#usm-agent).
* Register a self-managed Connect cluster
  against a Confluent Cloud Kafka cluster so that USM can begin
  collecting its connector metadata and metrics.
  For registration steps, see [Confluent Cloud Kafka as the Metadata Cluster](../../usm/register-connect/cloud-kafka.md#register-connect-cloud).

## Limitations

For the full list of limitations, see [Monitor Self-Managed Connectors Running Against Confluent Cloud Kafka](../../usm/monitor/connectors-cloud-kafka.md#platform-connectors-cloud).

## Related content

* [Unified Stream Manager in Confluent Cloud](../../usm/overview.md#cloud-usm-overview)
* [Confluent Cloud Kafka as the Metadata Cluster](../../usm/register-connect/cloud-kafka.md#register-connect-cloud)
* [Monitor Self-Managed Connectors Running Against Confluent Cloud Kafka](../../usm/monitor/connectors-cloud-kafka.md#platform-connectors-cloud)
* [Confluent Platform Kafka as the Metadata Cluster](../../usm/register-connect/platform-kafka.md#register-connect)
* [Monitor Confluent Platform Connectors with USM](../../usm/monitor/connectors.md#platform-connectors)
* [Connect to External Services in Confluent Cloud](../overview.md#kafka-connect-cloud)