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Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

apisix.apache.org

21–30 of 64 posts

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#22
post #21

I can't find the code. My biggest problem with Envoy is it's in C++, what's this written in?

This is based on OpenResty, so it's Nginx (C) + LutJit. However, it supports external plugins (any language) and WASM plugins.

Bummer, pass.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#23
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

While you _can_ tack all of those things on to your API, many people (myself included) prefer to separate those concerns. A dedicated API Gateway can prevent a lot of additional load from hitting the backend services. A gateway can also be a nice abstraction of the public interface from the underlying service(s).

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#24
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

Most of the time an "API Gateway" provides nothing. Usually this kind of service is just looking at the request path and maybe the Authorization header. In general it's just a useless hop in the TCP connection chain from the client to the server.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#26
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

Most of the time an "API Gateway" provides nothing. Usually this kind of service is just looking at the request path and maybe the Authorization header. In general it's just a useless hop in the TCP connection chain from the client to the server.

I feel “useless hop in TCP connection chain” is treated as a virtue in “modern architecture.”

Somehow micro services and cloud native turned into that. So yeah, slow response times, wasted infrastructure and most work put into I/O and serialization/deserialization.

I think we forgot what actual monoliths look like and just kept decomposing… I guess that is an appropriate term.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#27
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

It's been useful when domains are routed to a bunch of microservices internally. It keeps the gateway functionality centralized. For people using kubernetes, the new k8s Gateway API will obviate a bunch of the gateway tools out there.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#28
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

> rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial

Maybe if you're running one instance of your API server.

But if you're not then API Gateways end up being significantly simpler.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#29
post #20

What is the main benefit to running a gateway? Auth should already be handled by the api and adding things like rate limiting, ip address filtering ,caching and so on are ridiculously trivial..

> What is the main benefit to running a gateway?

An API gateway is an adapter. You can build a web API out of multiple independent web services, like microservices or simply versioned APIs. On top of that you can do anything a proxy does, like load balancing, TLS termination, rate limiting, monitoring, etc. Basically a API gateway is a higher-level abstraction over a proxy which saves some time and effort implementing some basic features.

> Auth should already be handled by the api (...)

That won't make a dent if you are running a single instance of a single service.

Once you start to run multiple instances of multiple services then things start to break down.

Re: Apache Apisix: Open-Source API Gateway and API Management Platform

#30
post #15

What is the advantage of using this compared to plain Nginx or Envoy? Is it just static vs. dynamic config for routing?

In addition to dynamic, Apache APISIX has the advantage of developing plugins in Java, Go, Python, Wasm. While Nginx uses C, Envoy uses C++ and Wasm.
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