rework section on most common props

Author: paulohtb6

modules/manage/pages/cluster-maintenance/topic-property-configuration.adoc

@@ -179,47 +179,40 @@ kubectl apply -f topic-config.yaml
 
 == Common topic property categories
 
-Topic properties are organized into several categories based on their functionality:
+The most commonly configured topic properties fall into these main categories:
 
 === Disk space management
 
-Redpanda manages disk space through two main mechanisms: **compaction** (removing duplicate keys) and **retention** (removing old data). Configure the core compaction properties to control how Redpanda cleans up data:
+Redpanda manages disk space through two main mechanisms: **compaction** (removing duplicate keys) and **retention** (removing old data). 
 
-- Choose cleanup strategy: deletion, compaction, or both (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#cleanuppolicy[`cleanup.policy`]).
-- Control when compaction triggers based on dirty data ratio (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#mincleanabledirtyratio[`min.cleanable.dirty.ratio`]).
-- Set maximum time before compaction is forced (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#maxcompactionlagms[`max.compaction.lag.ms`]).
-- Set minimum time before compaction can occur (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#mincompactionlagms[`min.compaction.lag.ms`]).
+Choose your cleanup strategy with xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#cleanuppolicy[`cleanup.policy`]:
+- `delete` - Remove old data based on time or size limits
+- `compact` - Keep only the latest value for each key
+- `compact,delete` - Combine both strategies
 
-=== Write performance and caching
+=== Compaction
 
-Control how Redpanda writes and syncs data to disk:
+When using `cleanup.policy=compact` or `cleanup.policy=compact,delete`, configure:
 
-- Cache batches until the segment appender chunk is full, instead of fsyncing for every `acks=all` write (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#writecaching[`write.caching`]).
-- Configure the maximum delay between two subsequent fsyncs (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#flushms[`flush.ms`]).
-- Set the maximum bytes not fsynced per partition (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#flushbytes[`flush.bytes`]).
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#mincleanabledirtyratio[`min.cleanable.dirty.ratio`] - Control when compaction triggers based on dirty data ratio
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#maxcompactionlagms[`max.compaction.lag.ms`] - Set maximum time before compaction is forced
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#mincompactionlagms[`min.compaction.lag.ms`] - Set minimum time before compaction can occur
 
-=== Message properties
+=== Retention
 
-Configure message-specific settings:
+When using `cleanup.policy=delete` or `cleanup.policy=compact,delete`, configure:
 
-- Set the source of a message's timestamp (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#messagetimestamptype[`message.timestamp.type`]).
-- Set the maximum size of a message (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#maxmessagebytes[`max.message.bytes`]).
-- Configure compression for stored data (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#compressiontype[`compression.type`]).
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#retentionbytes[`retention.bytes`] - Maximum size before cleanup (size-based retention)
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#retentionms[`retention.ms`] - Maximum age before cleanup (time-based retention)
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#segmentbytes[`segment.bytes`] - Control how frequently cleanup can occur by setting segment size
 
-=== Tiered Storage
+=== Performance
 
-For topics using Tiered Storage, configure:
+Essential performance tuning properties:
 
-- Upload and fetch data to and from object storage (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#redpandaremotewrite[`redpanda.remote.write`] and xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#redpandaremoteread[`redpanda.remote.read`]).
-- Recover data from object storage (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#redpandaremoterecovery[`redpanda.remote.recovery`]).
-- Configure local storage retention limits (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#retentionlocaltargetbytes[`retention.local.target.bytes`] and xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#retentionlocaltargetms[`retention.local.target.ms`]).
-
-=== Replication and leadership
-
-Configure replication and leadership settings:
-
-- Number of replicas for the topic (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#replicationfactor[`replication.factor`]).
-- Preferred location for partition leaders (xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#redpandaleaderspreference[`redpanda.leaders.preference`]).
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#writecaching[`write.caching`] - Cache writes for lower latency with `acks=all`
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#maxmessagebytes[`max.message.bytes`] - Set maximum message size
+- xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc#replicationfactor[`replication.factor`] - Number of replicas for durability vs. performance
 
 For complete details about all available topic properties, see xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc[Topic Configuration Properties].