What is API Gateway and when should we use it? Let's follow along to find out the answer through the following article!
API Gateway is being used extremely widely in the development of sustainable applications for modern human life.
It eliminates the underlying complexity of services in system and gives organizations the opportunity to innovate more quickly as well as flexibly.
In short, what is API Gateway and when to use it? Please follow Nobody's post today!
What's API Gateway?
API Gateway is an API management tool, located between the clients and the backend service group.
It acts as a reverse proxy, accepting all API calls from the client side.
Then, perform a validation - edit - fetch and aggregate related resources before sending back a response to each of the above requests.
In addition, API Gateway system often also takes on the security - monitoring API role and counting the number of calls, as well as the status of backend system.
API Gateway can be considered as an “intermediate gate” and the only way to the microservices system.
Normally, API Gateway will process a request through calling multiple microservices and aggregate to determine the best path.
An API Gateway will typically include the following components:
- Security.
- Caching.
- API composition and processing.
- Managing access quotas.
- API health monitoring.
- Versioning.
- Routing.
What are pros and cons of API Gateway?
Pros
The most important advantage of API Gateway is that it can encapsulate and hide internal structure of applications.
At this point, the clients only interact with the microservices system through API Gateway, not directly calling a certain service, helping to reduce the number of roundtrips.
As such, the client won't know how the entire backend service is divided, making it easier to refactor frontend code.
And because don't have to track dozens of endpoints on each service, the frontend code looks super neat, especially as the system gets bigger and bigger.
API Gateway will also act as load balancer, when request is no longer sent directly to backend, the risk of system overload is very rare.
Besides, users can also monitor and manage traffic simply through the built-in GUI in all popular API Gateway systems today.
Using API Gateway not only makes the application more efficient and adds an extra layer of security (DDoS prevention, SQL injection...), but also greatly reduces errors.
Another special thing is that we can fully utilize API Gateway as an authentication mechanism to replace an authentication service.
Cons
- Increases response time because it has to go through an intermediate server, which is later than when calling the system directly.
- There's the potential to increase the risk of errors if not careful.
- Sometimes causing a “bottleneck” when not properly configured or scaled, leading to overload and slowing down the entire system.
- It costs quite a lot.
When should API Gateway be used?
Microservice-based system
API Gateway is a standard used to manage microservices environment.
This's also one of the most suitable tools to convert monolithic into microservices for organizations in the market.
Serverless development
Serverless applications are similar to microservices in the way they handle functions.
They also need a unified interface, connection and entry point for all user requirements.
And API Gateway is becoming the enabler for this serverless computing.
Cross-platform service
In this day and age, mobile devices and televisions are increasingly being built with stronger connectivity than ever before.
This has brought a series of challenges for developer department.
Most of these platforms are limited by their own hardware, which means that there are always vastly different network and bandwidth requirements compared to desktops.
At this point, API Gateway will be a perfect solution to help provide consistent and accurate data to customers, based on different platform requirements.
API monetization
Using a comprehensive management platform is not easy and also quite expensive.
Or even before setting up, we also need to consider between many different options and compare them to check which is the most suitable.
This process requires a lot of time and money.
So, API Gateway appears as a perfect alternative, which is easier and faster to set up.
Besides, it can also be upgraded to an all-electric platform later.
