Do I need an API gateway?

Consider if you have: multiple services, need centralised auth, want rate limiting, need request logging, or external API exposure. For simple internal APIs, may be overkill.

How does an API gateway affect performance?

Adds some latency (typically <10ms). Benefits often outweigh: caching improves performance, offloads auth from services, enables better scaling. Choose a gateway with good performance characteristics.

What is the difference between API gateway and load balancer?

Load balancers distribute traffic based on server availability. API gateways add: authentication, rate limiting, request transformation, API-specific routing. Gateways often include load balancing.

Should I use a managed or self-hosted gateway?

Managed (AWS, Azure): less ops, good integration, pay-per-use. Self-hosted (Kong, NGINX): more control, potentially cheaper at scale, more customisable. Match to team capabilities.

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API Gateway

Q: What is the difference between API gateway and load balancer?

Load balancers distribute traffic based on server availability. API gateways add: authentication, rate limiting, request transformation, API-specific routing. Gateways often include load balancing.

Q: Should I use a managed or self-hosted gateway?

Managed (AWS, Azure): less ops, good integration, pay-per-use. Self-hosted (Kong, NGINX): more control, potentially cheaper at scale, more customisable. Match to team capabilities.

A server that acts as an entry point for APIs, handling request routing, authentication, rate limiting, and other cross-cutting concerns.

In-Depth Explanation

An API gateway is a server that sits between clients and backend services, acting as a reverse proxy to accept all API calls, aggregate the various services required, and return the appropriate result.

Core functions:

Request routing: Direct requests to appropriate services
Authentication: Verify API keys, tokens, certificates
Rate limiting: Control request volume per client
Load balancing: Distribute traffic across instances
Caching: Store responses to reduce backend load
Transformation: Modify requests and responses

Additional capabilities:

SSL termination
Request/response logging
Analytics and monitoring
API versioning
Circuit breaking
Request validation

Popular API gateways:

AWS API Gateway
Azure API Management
Google Cloud Endpoints
Kong
NGINX
Apigee

Business Context

API gateways simplify API management by centralising cross-cutting concerns, improving security, and enabling consistent policies across services.

How Clever Ops Uses This

We implement API gateways for Australian businesses to secure and manage AI APIs, ensuring proper authentication, monitoring, and rate limiting.

Example Use Case

"Using an API gateway to secure AI model endpoints, authenticate requests with API keys, rate limit by customer tier, and log all requests for billing."

Frequently Asked Questions

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API Documentation API Gateway