title: python-kafka, on Windows, returns 'NodeNotReadyError'
body: <p>I'm able to stream messages from a Kafka topic (running OSX) using the excellent <a href="https://github.com/dpkp/kafka-python" rel="nofollow" title="`kafka-python`"><code>python-kafka</code></a> package, e.g.:</p>
  
  <pre><code>from kafka import KafkaConsumer
  
  consumer = KafkaConsumer('MyTopic',
                           group_id='alex',
                           bootstrap_servers=['kafka:9092'],
                           auto_offset_reset='largest')
  
  for message in consumer:
      print message.value
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>A colleague, who's running Windows 7, asked me if he could could stream/filter/alert using the same approach. "No problem", I said. We installed <a href="https://www.continuum.io/downloads" rel="nofollow" title="Anaconda Python">Anaconda Python</a> and <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/" rel="nofollow" title="Pycharm">Pycharm</a>, and tried to stream some messages.</p>
  
  <p>Unfortunately, a few moments after running the consumer, the following message is displayed:</p>
  
  <pre><code>File "C:\Users\[my_colleague]\AppData\Local\Continuum\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\kafka\client_async.py", line 598, in connect
      raise Errors.NodeNotReadyError(node_id)
  kafka.common.NodeNotReadyError: None
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I suspected that the Windows firewall was blocking communications between the consumer and the broker, and so we briefly went and added both Pycharm and python.exe to the list of programs that could traverse the firewall. That didn't help.</p>
  
  <p>At that point, I felt a sense of ownership for the problem and that I should avoid monopolizing his laptop while I troubleshoot. Given the popularity of both Python, Kafka, and Windows, I imagine that we're not the first people to face this issue. Can you see what we're doing wrong?</p>