What is an API Gateway? - Definition & Meaning
Learn what an API Gateway is, how it manages API traffic with rate limiting and authentication, and why it is essential for microservice architectures.
Definition
An API Gateway is a management layer that serves as the central entry point for all API requests. It routes requests to the appropriate backend services and provides functionality such as authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring.
Technical explanation
An API Gateway sits between clients and backend services, handling cross-cutting concerns. Core capabilities include request routing (forwarding requests to the correct microservice based on URL, headers, or payload), authentication and authorization (JWT validation, OAuth 2.0, API keys), rate limiting (restricting requests per client/time unit to prevent abuse), and request/response transformation. Kong is a popular open-source gateway built on NGINX with an extensive plugin ecosystem. AWS API Gateway offers serverless integration with Lambda functions. Traefik integrates seamlessly with container orchestration like Kubernetes. API versioning via the gateway enables serving multiple API versions simultaneously. Circuit breakers prevent cascading failures when backend services are unavailable. Gateway-level caching reduces load on downstream services. Logging and distributed tracing at the gateway provide comprehensive observability. gRPC-to-REST transcoding enables exposing gRPC services via REST endpoints for web clients.
How MG Software applies this
At MG Software, we implement API Gateways in projects with multiple backend services. We configure rate limiting to prevent API abuse, JWT authentication for secured endpoints, and request logging for debugging and monitoring. This provides our clients with a secure, well-managed API layer.
Practical examples
- A fintech platform using Kong API Gateway to route payment API requests to the correct processing service, with rate limiting of 100 requests per minute per client.
- A mobile app backend using AWS API Gateway to authenticate incoming requests with JWT tokens and forward them to various Lambda functions.
- An e-commerce platform implementing API versioning through the gateway so v1 and v2 clients are served simultaneously without breaking changes.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
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