apigateway
How API Gateway Works
1. Client Request Entry
Web, mobile, or service clients send requests into a single gateway endpoint.
2. Request Authentication
Gateway validates identity via tokens, API keys, or OAuth before anything moves forward.
3. Rate Limiting
Controls traffic volume to prevent overload and ensure fair resource usage.
4. Request Validation
Checks headers, parameters, and payload format before routing downstream.
5. Routing Logic
Directs requests to the correct backend service based on paths, rules, or load strategy.
6. Load Balancing
Distributes traffic across service instances for scalability and reliability.
7. Protocol Translation
Converts between REST, gRPC, SOAP, or WebSockets when systems speak different languages.
8. Request Transformation
Modifies headers or payloads to match backend service expectations.
9. Backend Service Call
Gateway forwards the validated request to internal microservices or external APIs.
10. Response Aggregation
Combines responses from multiple services into a single unified result.
11. Response Transformation
Formats the response structure, headers, or data for client compatibility.
12. Monitoring & Logging
Every request tracked – latency, errors, usage patterns. The observability layer that keeps production sane.
13. Response Delivery
Final response securely returned to the client through the optimized gateway path.
Tools doing the heavy lifting: Kong, Envoy, NGINX, Apigee, AWS API Gateway, Traefik – each handling different layers of this flow.
The API Gateway isn't just a proxy.
It's the security, reliability, and observability layer your entire system depends on.
Load Balancer – API Gateway – Reverse – Forward Proxy
#loadbalancer #reverseproxy #apigateway #forwardproxy
Load Balancers, Reverse Proxies, Forward Proxies, and API Gateways: Know the Difference
Understanding these network components is crucial for building scalable and secure applications.
𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 distribute traffic across multiple servers for optimal performance and reliability.
𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘀 sit in front of web servers, enhancing security, load balancing, and performance.
𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘀 act as intermediaries for clients, offering anonymity, caching, and content filtering.
𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 manage and secure API traffic, providing a single entry point for multiple APIs.
Each plays a distinct role in network architecture, contributing to application performance, security, and scalability.
System Design Building Blocks
AIRBNB'S Evolution
Top 9 System Integrations
Top 9 Architectural Patterns for Data and Communication Flow
Peer-to-Peer
The Peer-to-Peer pattern involves direct communication between two components without the need for a central coordinator.
API Gateway
An API Gateway acts as a single entry point for all client requests to the backend services of an application.
Pub-Sub
The Pub-Sub pattern decouples the producers of messages (publishers) from the consumers of messages (subscribers) through a message broker.
Request-Response
This is one of the most fundamental integration patterns, where a client sends a request to a server and waits for a response.
Event Sourcing
Event Sourcing involves storing the state changes of an application as a sequence of events.
ETL
ETL is a data integration pattern used to gather data from multiple sources, transform it into a structured format, and load it into a destination database.
Batching
Batching involves accumulating data over