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How do API gateways help secure and manage service-to-service communication?
Asked on Nov 19, 2025
Answer
API gateways play a crucial role in securing and managing service-to-service communication by acting as a centralized entry point for all API requests. They enforce security policies, manage traffic, and provide logging and monitoring capabilities, which are essential for maintaining the integrity and performance of microservices architectures.
Example Concept: An API gateway serves as a reverse proxy that routes client requests to the appropriate backend services. It provides features such as authentication, authorization, rate limiting, and request/response transformation. By consolidating these functions, the gateway helps ensure secure and efficient communication between services, while also simplifying the management of cross-cutting concerns like logging and monitoring.
Additional Comment:
- API gateways can enforce security protocols like OAuth2, JWT, or API keys for authentication and authorization.
- They enable traffic management by implementing rate limiting and throttling to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage.
- Gateways can transform requests and responses, allowing for versioning and adaptation to different client needs.
- They provide observability features by logging requests and responses, which aids in monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Popular API gateway solutions include Kong, NGINX, and AWS API Gateway.
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