diff --git a/vendor/github.com/opencord/voltha-go/kafka/sarama_client.go b/vendor/github.com/opencord/voltha-go/kafka/sarama_client.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..add1900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/github.com/opencord/voltha-go/kafka/sarama_client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,944 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018-present Open Networking Foundation
+
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package kafka
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	scc "github.com/bsm/sarama-cluster"
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
+	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/opencord/voltha-go/common/log"
+	ic "github.com/opencord/voltha-protos/go/inter_container"
+	"gopkg.in/Shopify/sarama.v1"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	log.AddPackage(log.JSON, log.DebugLevel, nil)
+}
+
+type returnErrorFunction func() error
+
+// consumerChannels represents one or more consumers listening on a kafka topic.  Once a message is received on that
+// topic, the consumer(s) broadcasts the message to all the listening channels.   The consumer can be a partition
+//consumer or a group consumer
+type consumerChannels struct {
+	consumers []interface{}
+	channels  []chan *ic.InterContainerMessage
+}
+
+// SaramaClient represents the messaging proxy
+type SaramaClient struct {
+	cAdmin                        sarama.ClusterAdmin
+	client                        sarama.Client
+	KafkaHost                     string
+	KafkaPort                     int
+	producer                      sarama.AsyncProducer
+	consumer                      sarama.Consumer
+	groupConsumers                map[string]*scc.Consumer
+	lockOfGroupConsumers            sync.RWMutex
+	consumerGroupPrefix           string
+	consumerType                  int
+	consumerGroupName             string
+	producerFlushFrequency        int
+	producerFlushMessages         int
+	producerFlushMaxmessages      int
+	producerRetryMax              int
+	producerRetryBackOff          time.Duration
+	producerReturnSuccess         bool
+	producerReturnErrors          bool
+	consumerMaxwait               int
+	maxProcessingTime             int
+	numPartitions                 int
+	numReplicas                   int
+	autoCreateTopic               bool
+	doneCh                        chan int
+	topicToConsumerChannelMap     map[string]*consumerChannels
+	lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap sync.RWMutex
+	topicLockMap                  map[string]*sync.RWMutex
+	lockOfTopicLockMap            sync.RWMutex
+}
+
+type SaramaClientOption func(*SaramaClient)
+
+func Host(host string) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.KafkaHost = host
+	}
+}
+
+func Port(port int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.KafkaPort = port
+	}
+}
+
+func ConsumerGroupPrefix(prefix string) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.consumerGroupPrefix = prefix
+	}
+}
+
+func ConsumerGroupName(name string) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.consumerGroupName = name
+	}
+}
+
+func ConsumerType(consumer int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.consumerType = consumer
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerFlushFrequency(frequency int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerFlushFrequency = frequency
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerFlushMessages(num int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerFlushMessages = num
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerFlushMaxMessages(num int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerFlushMaxmessages = num
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerMaxRetries(num int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerRetryMax = num
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerRetryBackoff(duration time.Duration) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerRetryBackOff = duration
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerReturnOnErrors(opt bool) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerReturnErrors = opt
+	}
+}
+
+func ProducerReturnOnSuccess(opt bool) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.producerReturnSuccess = opt
+	}
+}
+
+func ConsumerMaxWait(wait int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.consumerMaxwait = wait
+	}
+}
+
+func MaxProcessingTime(pTime int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.maxProcessingTime = pTime
+	}
+}
+
+func NumPartitions(number int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.numPartitions = number
+	}
+}
+
+func NumReplicas(number int) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.numReplicas = number
+	}
+}
+
+func AutoCreateTopic(opt bool) SaramaClientOption {
+	return func(args *SaramaClient) {
+		args.autoCreateTopic = opt
+	}
+}
+
+func NewSaramaClient(opts ...SaramaClientOption) *SaramaClient {
+	client := &SaramaClient{
+		KafkaHost: DefaultKafkaHost,
+		KafkaPort: DefaultKafkaPort,
+	}
+	client.consumerType = DefaultConsumerType
+	client.producerFlushFrequency = DefaultProducerFlushFrequency
+	client.producerFlushMessages = DefaultProducerFlushMessages
+	client.producerFlushMaxmessages = DefaultProducerFlushMaxmessages
+	client.producerReturnErrors = DefaultProducerReturnErrors
+	client.producerReturnSuccess = DefaultProducerReturnSuccess
+	client.producerRetryMax = DefaultProducerRetryMax
+	client.producerRetryBackOff = DefaultProducerRetryBackoff
+	client.consumerMaxwait = DefaultConsumerMaxwait
+	client.maxProcessingTime = DefaultMaxProcessingTime
+	client.numPartitions = DefaultNumberPartitions
+	client.numReplicas = DefaultNumberReplicas
+	client.autoCreateTopic = DefaultAutoCreateTopic
+
+	for _, option := range opts {
+		option(client)
+	}
+
+	client.groupConsumers = make(map[string]*scc.Consumer)
+
+	client.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap = sync.RWMutex{}
+	client.topicLockMap = make(map[string]*sync.RWMutex)
+	client.lockOfTopicLockMap = sync.RWMutex{}
+	client.lockOfGroupConsumers = sync.RWMutex{}
+	return client
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) Start() error {
+	log.Info("Starting-kafka-sarama-client")
+
+	// Create the Done channel
+	sc.doneCh = make(chan int, 1)
+
+	var err error
+
+	// Create the Cluster Admin
+	if err = sc.createClusterAdmin(); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("Cannot-create-cluster-admin", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Create the Publisher
+	if err := sc.createPublisher(); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("Cannot-create-kafka-publisher", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if sc.consumerType == DefaultConsumerType {
+		// Create the master consumers
+		if err := sc.createConsumer(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorw("Cannot-create-kafka-consumers", log.Fields{"error": err})
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Create the topic to consumers/channel map
+	sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap = make(map[string]*consumerChannels)
+
+	log.Info("kafka-sarama-client-started")
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) Stop() {
+	log.Info("stopping-sarama-client")
+
+	//Send a message over the done channel to close all long running routines
+	sc.doneCh <- 1
+
+	if sc.producer != nil {
+		if err := sc.producer.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorw("closing-producer-failed", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		}
+	}
+
+	if sc.consumer != nil {
+		if err := sc.consumer.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorw("closing-partition-consumer-failed", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		}
+	}
+
+	for key, val := range sc.groupConsumers {
+		log.Debugw("closing-group-consumer", log.Fields{"topic": key})
+		if err := val.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorw("closing-group-consumer-failed", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": key})
+		}
+	}
+
+	if sc.cAdmin != nil {
+		if err := sc.cAdmin.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Errorw("closing-cluster-admin-failed", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		}
+	}
+
+	//TODO: Clear the consumers map
+	//sc.clearConsumerChannelMap()
+
+	log.Info("sarama-client-stopped")
+}
+
+//createTopic is an internal function to create a topic on the Kafka Broker. No locking is required as
+// the invoking function must hold the lock
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createTopic(topic *Topic, numPartition int, repFactor int) error {
+	// Set the topic details
+	topicDetail := &sarama.TopicDetail{}
+	topicDetail.NumPartitions = int32(numPartition)
+	topicDetail.ReplicationFactor = int16(repFactor)
+	topicDetail.ConfigEntries = make(map[string]*string)
+	topicDetails := make(map[string]*sarama.TopicDetail)
+	topicDetails[topic.Name] = topicDetail
+
+	if err := sc.cAdmin.CreateTopic(topic.Name, topicDetail, false); err != nil {
+		if err == sarama.ErrTopicAlreadyExists {
+			//	Not an error
+			log.Debugw("topic-already-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+			return nil
+		}
+		log.Errorw("create-topic-failure", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+	// TODO: Wait until the topic has been created.  No API is available in the Sarama clusterAdmin to
+	// do so.
+	log.Debugw("topic-created", log.Fields{"topic": topic, "numPartition": numPartition, "replicationFactor": repFactor})
+	return nil
+}
+
+//CreateTopic is a public API to create a topic on the Kafka Broker.  It uses a lock on a specific topic to
+// ensure no two go routines are performing operations on the same topic
+func (sc *SaramaClient) CreateTopic(topic *Topic, numPartition int, repFactor int) error {
+	sc.lockTopic(topic)
+	defer sc.unLockTopic(topic)
+
+	return sc.createTopic(topic, numPartition, repFactor)
+}
+
+//DeleteTopic removes a topic from the kafka Broker
+func (sc *SaramaClient) DeleteTopic(topic *Topic) error {
+	sc.lockTopic(topic)
+	defer sc.unLockTopic(topic)
+
+	// Remove the topic from the broker
+	if err := sc.cAdmin.DeleteTopic(topic.Name); err != nil {
+		if err == sarama.ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition {
+			//	Not an error as does not exist
+			log.Debugw("topic-not-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+			return nil
+		}
+		log.Errorw("delete-topic-failed", log.Fields{"topic": topic, "error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Clear the topic from the consumer channel.  This will also close any consumers listening on that topic.
+	if err := sc.clearTopicFromConsumerChannelMap(*topic); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("failure-clearing-channels", log.Fields{"topic": topic, "error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Subscribe registers a caller to a topic. It returns a channel that the caller can use to receive
+// messages from that topic
+func (sc *SaramaClient) Subscribe(topic *Topic, kvArgs ...*KVArg) (<-chan *ic.InterContainerMessage, error) {
+	sc.lockTopic(topic)
+	defer sc.unLockTopic(topic)
+
+	log.Debugw("subscribe", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+
+	// If a consumers already exist for that topic then resuse it
+	if consumerCh := sc.getConsumerChannel(topic); consumerCh != nil {
+		log.Debugw("topic-already-subscribed", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+		// Create a channel specific for that consumers and add it to the consumers channel map
+		ch := make(chan *ic.InterContainerMessage)
+		sc.addChannelToConsumerChannelMap(topic, ch)
+		return ch, nil
+	}
+
+	// Register for the topic and set it up
+	var consumerListeningChannel chan *ic.InterContainerMessage
+	var err error
+
+	// Use the consumerType option to figure out the type of consumer to launch
+	if sc.consumerType == PartitionConsumer {
+		if sc.autoCreateTopic {
+			if err = sc.createTopic(topic, sc.numPartitions, sc.numReplicas); err != nil {
+				log.Errorw("create-topic-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+		if consumerListeningChannel, err = sc.setupPartitionConsumerChannel(topic, getOffset(kvArgs...)); err != nil {
+			log.Warnw("create-consumers-channel-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	} else if sc.consumerType == GroupCustomer {
+		// TODO: create topic if auto create is on.  There is an issue with the sarama cluster library that
+		// does not consume from a precreated topic in some scenarios
+		//if sc.autoCreateTopic {
+		//	if err = sc.createTopic(topic, sc.numPartitions, sc.numReplicas); err != nil {
+		//		log.Errorw("create-topic-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+		//		return nil, err
+		//	}
+		//}
+		//groupId := sc.consumerGroupName
+		groupId := getGroupId(kvArgs...)
+		// Include the group prefix
+		if groupId != "" {
+			groupId = sc.consumerGroupPrefix + groupId
+		} else {
+			// Need to use a unique group Id per topic
+			groupId = sc.consumerGroupPrefix + topic.Name
+		}
+		if consumerListeningChannel, err = sc.setupGroupConsumerChannel(topic, groupId, getOffset(kvArgs...)); err != nil {
+			log.Warnw("create-consumers-channel-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name, "groupId": groupId})
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		log.Warnw("unknown-consumer-type", log.Fields{"consumer-type": sc.consumerType})
+		return nil, errors.New("unknown-consumer-type")
+	}
+
+	return consumerListeningChannel, nil
+}
+
+//UnSubscribe unsubscribe a consumer from a given topic
+func (sc *SaramaClient) UnSubscribe(topic *Topic, ch <-chan *ic.InterContainerMessage) error {
+	sc.lockTopic(topic)
+	defer sc.unLockTopic(topic)
+
+	log.Debugw("unsubscribing-channel-from-topic", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+	var err error
+	if err = sc.removeChannelFromConsumerChannelMap(*topic, ch); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("failed-removing-channel", log.Fields{"error": err})
+	}
+	if err = sc.deleteFromGroupConsumers(topic.Name); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("failed-deleting-group-consumer", log.Fields{"error": err})
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+// send formats and sends the request onto the kafka messaging bus.
+func (sc *SaramaClient) Send(msg interface{}, topic *Topic, keys ...string) error {
+
+	// Assert message is a proto message
+	var protoMsg proto.Message
+	var ok bool
+	// ascertain the value interface type is a proto.Message
+	if protoMsg, ok = msg.(proto.Message); !ok {
+		log.Warnw("message-not-proto-message", log.Fields{"msg": msg})
+		return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("not-a-proto-msg-%s", msg))
+	}
+
+	var marshalled []byte
+	var err error
+	//	Create the Sarama producer message
+	if marshalled, err = proto.Marshal(protoMsg); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("marshalling-failed", log.Fields{"msg": protoMsg, "error": err})
+		return err
+	}
+	key := ""
+	if len(keys) > 0 {
+		key = keys[0] // Only the first key is relevant
+	}
+	kafkaMsg := &sarama.ProducerMessage{
+		Topic: topic.Name,
+		Key:   sarama.StringEncoder(key),
+		Value: sarama.ByteEncoder(marshalled),
+	}
+
+	// Send message to kafka
+	sc.producer.Input() <- kafkaMsg
+
+	// Wait for result
+	// TODO: Use a lock or a different mechanism to ensure the response received corresponds to the message sent.
+	select {
+	case ok := <-sc.producer.Successes():
+		log.Debugw("message-sent", log.Fields{"status": ok.Topic})
+	case notOk := <-sc.producer.Errors():
+		log.Debugw("error-sending", log.Fields{"status": notOk})
+		return notOk
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// getGroupId returns the group id from the key-value args.
+func getGroupId(kvArgs ...*KVArg) string {
+	for _, arg := range kvArgs {
+		if arg.Key == GroupIdKey {
+			return arg.Value.(string)
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// getOffset returns the offset from the key-value args.
+func getOffset(kvArgs ...*KVArg) int64 {
+	for _, arg := range kvArgs {
+		if arg.Key == Offset {
+			return arg.Value.(int64)
+		}
+	}
+	return sarama.OffsetNewest
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createClusterAdmin() error {
+	kafkaFullAddr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", sc.KafkaHost, sc.KafkaPort)
+	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config.Version = sarama.V1_0_0_0
+
+	// Create a cluster Admin
+	var cAdmin sarama.ClusterAdmin
+	var err error
+	if cAdmin, err = sarama.NewClusterAdmin([]string{kafkaFullAddr}, config); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("cluster-admin-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "broker-address": kafkaFullAddr})
+		return err
+	}
+	sc.cAdmin = cAdmin
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) lockTopic(topic *Topic) {
+	sc.lockOfTopicLockMap.Lock()
+	if _, exist := sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		sc.lockOfTopicLockMap.Unlock()
+		sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name].Lock()
+	} else {
+		sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name] = &sync.RWMutex{}
+		sc.lockOfTopicLockMap.Unlock()
+		sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name].Lock()
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) unLockTopic(topic *Topic) {
+	sc.lockOfTopicLockMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockOfTopicLockMap.Unlock()
+	if _, exist := sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		sc.topicLockMap[topic.Name].Unlock()
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) addTopicToConsumerChannelMap(id string, arg *consumerChannels) {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	if _, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[id]; !exist {
+		sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[id] = arg
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) deleteFromTopicToConsumerChannelMap(id string) {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	if _, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[id]; exist {
+		delete(sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap, id)
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) getConsumerChannel(topic *Topic) *consumerChannels {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.RLock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.RUnlock()
+
+	if consumerCh, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		return consumerCh
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) addChannelToConsumerChannelMap(topic *Topic, ch chan *ic.InterContainerMessage) {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	if consumerCh, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		consumerCh.channels = append(consumerCh.channels, ch)
+		return
+	}
+	log.Warnw("consumers-channel-not-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+}
+
+//closeConsumers closes a list of sarama consumers.  The consumers can either be a partition consumers or a group consumers
+func closeConsumers(consumers []interface{}) error {
+	var err error
+	for _, consumer := range consumers {
+		//	Is it a partition consumers?
+		if partionConsumer, ok := consumer.(sarama.PartitionConsumer); ok {
+			if errTemp := partionConsumer.Close(); errTemp != nil {
+				log.Debugw("partition!!!", log.Fields{"err": errTemp})
+				if strings.Compare(errTemp.Error(), sarama.ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition.Error()) == 0 {
+					// This can occur on race condition
+					err = nil
+				} else {
+					err = errTemp
+				}
+			}
+		} else if groupConsumer, ok := consumer.(*scc.Consumer); ok {
+			if errTemp := groupConsumer.Close(); errTemp != nil {
+				if strings.Compare(errTemp.Error(), sarama.ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition.Error()) == 0 {
+					// This can occur on race condition
+					err = nil
+				} else {
+					err = errTemp
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) removeChannelFromConsumerChannelMap(topic Topic, ch <-chan *ic.InterContainerMessage) error {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	if consumerCh, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		// Channel will be closed in the removeChannel method
+		consumerCh.channels = removeChannel(consumerCh.channels, ch)
+		// If there are no more channels then we can close the consumers itself
+		if len(consumerCh.channels) == 0 {
+			log.Debugw("closing-consumers", log.Fields{"topic": topic})
+			err := closeConsumers(consumerCh.consumers)
+			//err := consumerCh.consumers.Close()
+			delete(sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap, topic.Name)
+			return err
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+	log.Warnw("topic-does-not-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+	return errors.New("topic-does-not-exist")
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) clearTopicFromConsumerChannelMap(topic Topic) error {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	if consumerCh, exist := sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap[topic.Name]; exist {
+		for _, ch := range consumerCh.channels {
+			// Channel will be closed in the removeChannel method
+			removeChannel(consumerCh.channels, ch)
+		}
+		err := closeConsumers(consumerCh.consumers)
+		//if err == sarama.ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition {
+		//	// Not an error
+		//	err = nil
+		//}
+		//err := consumerCh.consumers.Close()
+		delete(sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap, topic.Name)
+		return err
+	}
+	log.Debugw("topic-does-not-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) clearConsumerChannelMap() error {
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.Unlock()
+	var err error
+	for topic, consumerCh := range sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap {
+		for _, ch := range consumerCh.channels {
+			// Channel will be closed in the removeChannel method
+			removeChannel(consumerCh.channels, ch)
+		}
+		if errTemp := closeConsumers(consumerCh.consumers); errTemp != nil {
+			err = errTemp
+		}
+		//err = consumerCh.consumers.Close()
+		delete(sc.topicToConsumerChannelMap, topic)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+//createPublisher creates the publisher which is used to send a message onto kafka
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createPublisher() error {
+	// This Creates the publisher
+	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config.Producer.Partitioner = sarama.NewRandomPartitioner
+	config.Producer.Flush.Frequency = time.Duration(sc.producerFlushFrequency)
+	config.Producer.Flush.Messages = sc.producerFlushMessages
+	config.Producer.Flush.MaxMessages = sc.producerFlushMaxmessages
+	config.Producer.Return.Errors = sc.producerReturnErrors
+	config.Producer.Return.Successes = sc.producerReturnSuccess
+	//config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
+	config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForLocal
+
+	kafkaFullAddr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", sc.KafkaHost, sc.KafkaPort)
+	brokers := []string{kafkaFullAddr}
+
+	if producer, err := sarama.NewAsyncProducer(brokers, config); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("error-starting-publisher", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		return err
+	} else {
+		sc.producer = producer
+	}
+	log.Info("Kafka-publisher-created")
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createConsumer() error {
+	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config.Consumer.Return.Errors = true
+	config.Consumer.Fetch.Min = 1
+	config.Consumer.MaxWaitTime = time.Duration(sc.consumerMaxwait) * time.Millisecond
+	config.Consumer.MaxProcessingTime = time.Duration(sc.maxProcessingTime) * time.Millisecond
+	config.Consumer.Offsets.Initial = sarama.OffsetNewest
+	kafkaFullAddr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", sc.KafkaHost, sc.KafkaPort)
+	brokers := []string{kafkaFullAddr}
+
+	if consumer, err := sarama.NewConsumer(brokers, config); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("error-starting-consumers", log.Fields{"error": err})
+		return err
+	} else {
+		sc.consumer = consumer
+	}
+	log.Info("Kafka-consumers-created")
+	return nil
+}
+
+// createGroupConsumer creates a consumers group
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createGroupConsumer(topic *Topic, groupId string, initialOffset int64, retries int) (*scc.Consumer, error) {
+	config := scc.NewConfig()
+	config.ClientID = uuid.New().String()
+	config.Group.Mode = scc.ConsumerModeMultiplex
+	//config.Consumer.Return.Errors = true
+	//config.Group.Return.Notifications = false
+	//config.Consumer.MaxWaitTime = time.Duration(DefaultConsumerMaxwait) * time.Millisecond
+	//config.Consumer.MaxProcessingTime = time.Duration(DefaultMaxProcessingTime) * time.Millisecond
+	config.Consumer.Offsets.Initial = initialOffset
+	//config.Consumer.Offsets.Initial = sarama.OffsetOldest
+	kafkaFullAddr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", sc.KafkaHost, sc.KafkaPort)
+	brokers := []string{kafkaFullAddr}
+
+	topics := []string{topic.Name}
+	var consumer *scc.Consumer
+	var err error
+
+	if consumer, err = scc.NewConsumer(brokers, groupId, topics, config); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("create-group-consumers-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name, "groupId": groupId})
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	log.Debugw("create-group-consumers-success", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name, "groupId": groupId})
+
+	//sc.groupConsumers[topic.Name] = consumer
+	sc.addToGroupConsumers(topic.Name, consumer)
+	return consumer, nil
+}
+
+// dispatchToConsumers sends the intercontainermessage received on a given topic to all subscribers for that
+// topic via the unique channel each subscriber received during subscription
+func (sc *SaramaClient) dispatchToConsumers(consumerCh *consumerChannels, protoMessage *ic.InterContainerMessage) {
+	// Need to go over all channels and publish messages to them - do we need to copy msg?
+	sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.RLock()
+	defer sc.lockTopicToConsumerChannelMap.RUnlock()
+	for _, ch := range consumerCh.channels {
+		go func(c chan *ic.InterContainerMessage) {
+			c <- protoMessage
+		}(ch)
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) consumeFromAPartition(topic *Topic, consumer sarama.PartitionConsumer, consumerChnls *consumerChannels) {
+	log.Debugw("starting-partition-consumption-loop", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+startloop:
+	for {
+		select {
+		case err, ok := <-consumer.Errors():
+			if ok {
+				log.Warnw("partition-consumers-error", log.Fields{"error": err})
+			} else {
+				// Channel is closed
+				break startloop
+			}
+		case msg, ok := <-consumer.Messages():
+			//log.Debugw("message-received", log.Fields{"msg": msg, "receivedTopic": msg.Topic})
+			if !ok {
+				// channel is closed
+				break startloop
+			}
+			msgBody := msg.Value
+			icm := &ic.InterContainerMessage{}
+			if err := proto.Unmarshal(msgBody, icm); err != nil {
+				log.Warnw("partition-invalid-message", log.Fields{"error": err})
+				continue
+			}
+			go sc.dispatchToConsumers(consumerChnls, icm)
+		case <-sc.doneCh:
+			log.Infow("partition-received-exit-signal", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+			break startloop
+		}
+	}
+	log.Infow("partition-consumer-stopped", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) consumeGroupMessages(topic *Topic, consumer *scc.Consumer, consumerChnls *consumerChannels) {
+	log.Debugw("starting-group-consumption-loop", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+
+startloop:
+	for {
+		select {
+		case err, ok := <-consumer.Errors():
+			if ok {
+				log.Warnw("group-consumers-error", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name, "error": err})
+			} else {
+				// channel is closed
+				break startloop
+			}
+		case msg, ok := <-consumer.Messages():
+			if !ok {
+				// Channel closed
+				break startloop
+			}
+			log.Debugw("message-received", log.Fields{"timestamp": msg.Timestamp, "receivedTopic": msg.Topic})
+			msgBody := msg.Value
+			icm := &ic.InterContainerMessage{}
+			if err := proto.Unmarshal(msgBody, icm); err != nil {
+				log.Warnw("invalid-message", log.Fields{"error": err})
+				continue
+			}
+			go sc.dispatchToConsumers(consumerChnls, icm)
+			consumer.MarkOffset(msg, "")
+		case ntf := <-consumer.Notifications():
+			log.Debugw("group-received-notification", log.Fields{"notification": ntf})
+		case <-sc.doneCh:
+			log.Infow("group-received-exit-signal", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+			break startloop
+		}
+	}
+	log.Infow("group-consumer-stopped", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) startConsumers(topic *Topic) error {
+	log.Debugw("starting-consumers", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+	var consumerCh *consumerChannels
+	if consumerCh = sc.getConsumerChannel(topic); consumerCh == nil {
+		log.Errorw("consumers-not-exist", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+		return errors.New("consumers-not-exist")
+	}
+	// For each consumer listening for that topic, start a consumption loop
+	for _, consumer := range consumerCh.consumers {
+		if pConsumer, ok := consumer.(sarama.PartitionConsumer); ok {
+			go sc.consumeFromAPartition(topic, pConsumer, consumerCh)
+		} else if gConsumer, ok := consumer.(*scc.Consumer); ok {
+			go sc.consumeGroupMessages(topic, gConsumer, consumerCh)
+		} else {
+			log.Errorw("invalid-consumer", log.Fields{"topic": topic})
+			return errors.New("invalid-consumer")
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+//// setupConsumerChannel creates a consumerChannels object for that topic and add it to the consumerChannels map
+//// for that topic.  It also starts the routine that listens for messages on that topic.
+func (sc *SaramaClient) setupPartitionConsumerChannel(topic *Topic, initialOffset int64) (chan *ic.InterContainerMessage, error) {
+	var pConsumers []sarama.PartitionConsumer
+	var err error
+
+	if pConsumers, err = sc.createPartitionConsumers(topic, initialOffset); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("creating-partition-consumers-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	consumersIf := make([]interface{}, 0)
+	for _, pConsumer := range pConsumers {
+		consumersIf = append(consumersIf, pConsumer)
+	}
+
+	// Create the consumers/channel structure and set the consumers and create a channel on that topic - for now
+	// unbuffered to verify race conditions.
+	consumerListeningChannel := make(chan *ic.InterContainerMessage)
+	cc := &consumerChannels{
+		consumers: consumersIf,
+		channels:  []chan *ic.InterContainerMessage{consumerListeningChannel},
+	}
+
+	// Add the consumers channel to the map
+	sc.addTopicToConsumerChannelMap(topic.Name, cc)
+
+	//Start a consumers to listen on that specific topic
+	go sc.startConsumers(topic)
+
+	return consumerListeningChannel, nil
+}
+
+// setupConsumerChannel creates a consumerChannels object for that topic and add it to the consumerChannels map
+// for that topic.  It also starts the routine that listens for messages on that topic.
+func (sc *SaramaClient) setupGroupConsumerChannel(topic *Topic, groupId string, initialOffset int64) (chan *ic.InterContainerMessage, error) {
+	// TODO:  Replace this development partition consumers with a group consumers
+	var pConsumer *scc.Consumer
+	var err error
+	if pConsumer, err = sc.createGroupConsumer(topic, groupId, initialOffset, DefaultMaxRetries); err != nil {
+		log.Errorw("creating-partition-consumers-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// Create the consumers/channel structure and set the consumers and create a channel on that topic - for now
+	// unbuffered to verify race conditions.
+	consumerListeningChannel := make(chan *ic.InterContainerMessage)
+	cc := &consumerChannels{
+		consumers: []interface{}{pConsumer},
+		channels:  []chan *ic.InterContainerMessage{consumerListeningChannel},
+	}
+
+	// Add the consumers channel to the map
+	sc.addTopicToConsumerChannelMap(topic.Name, cc)
+
+	//Start a consumers to listen on that specific topic
+	go sc.startConsumers(topic)
+
+	return consumerListeningChannel, nil
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) createPartitionConsumers(topic *Topic, initialOffset int64) ([]sarama.PartitionConsumer, error) {
+	log.Debugw("creating-partition-consumers", log.Fields{"topic": topic.Name})
+	partitionList, err := sc.consumer.Partitions(topic.Name)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warnw("get-partition-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	pConsumers := make([]sarama.PartitionConsumer, 0)
+	for _, partition := range partitionList {
+		var pConsumer sarama.PartitionConsumer
+		if pConsumer, err = sc.consumer.ConsumePartition(topic.Name, partition, initialOffset); err != nil {
+			log.Warnw("consumers-partition-failure", log.Fields{"error": err, "topic": topic.Name})
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		pConsumers = append(pConsumers, pConsumer)
+	}
+	return pConsumers, nil
+}
+
+func removeChannel(channels []chan *ic.InterContainerMessage, ch <-chan *ic.InterContainerMessage) []chan *ic.InterContainerMessage {
+	var i int
+	var channel chan *ic.InterContainerMessage
+	for i, channel = range channels {
+		if channel == ch {
+			channels[len(channels)-1], channels[i] = channels[i], channels[len(channels)-1]
+			close(channel)
+			log.Debug("channel-closed")
+			return channels[:len(channels)-1]
+		}
+	}
+	return channels
+}
+
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) addToGroupConsumers(topic string, consumer *scc.Consumer) {
+	sc.lockOfGroupConsumers.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockOfGroupConsumers.Unlock()
+	if _, exist := sc.groupConsumers[topic]; !exist {
+		sc.groupConsumers[topic] = consumer
+	}
+}
+
+func (sc *SaramaClient) deleteFromGroupConsumers(topic string) error {
+	sc.lockOfGroupConsumers.Lock()
+	defer sc.lockOfGroupConsumers.Unlock()
+	if _, exist := sc.groupConsumers[topic]; exist {
+		consumer := sc.groupConsumers[topic]
+		delete(sc.groupConsumers, topic)
+		if err := consumer.Close(); err!= nil {
+			log.Errorw("failure-closing-consumer", log.Fields{"error": err})
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}