In the context of authorization, latency refers to the delay or time it takes for an authorization decision to be made after a user or system requests access to a resource. This delay occurs when the system tries to evaluate the user's permissions and policies before granting or denying access. High latency in authorization can disrupt the user experience and application performance, particularly in environments where every millisecond counts. Cerbos combats this challenge using several technologies to ensure authorization requests are processed faster and reliably. We are going to explore these technologies in this blog. But first, let's get to know why latency matters in authorization.
Understanding the latency problem using real-world examples
The impact of latency in authorization is evident across various applications, each with distinct challenges but having one common problem- slowing down access decisions and frustrating end-users. Let's look at a few examples.
Forums like Quora and Reddit rely heavily on efficient access control for logged-in and anonymous users. While anonymous users can view content without authentication, logged-in users, moderators, and administrators require real-time permissions to perform actions like posting, commenting, moderating content, e.t.c. Delays in authorization for these roles can disrupt user interactions and the platforms’ functionality.
Blogging platforms such as Medium depend on access control for their paywall features. These platforms need to instantly verify whether a user has a subscription to access premium content, and even small delays can degrade the user experience, leading to frustration or loss of subscribers.
Streaming services like Netflix encounter a different but equally critical challenge- access control must quickly validate subscription tiers to determine features like video quality, number of shared accounts allowed, and simultaneous streaming. The disruption of the viewing experience risk, especially during live streams or peak viewing times is there when delays occur.
Social media platforms and e-commerce sites further highlight this challenge, as they manage millions of users performing diverse actions like private messaging, group management, checking personalized recommendations, checking out, etc. During peak traffic times, such as flash sales or viral events, the risk of high latency increases, potentially leading to lost revenue and diminished engagement.
These examples demonstrate how latency in access control can affect user experience and operational efficiency across various high-traffic applications.
Cerbos features for tackling latency challenges
At its core, Cerbos is a lightweight, policy-driven authorization tool that can be integrated into diverse application environments. It’s built to handle the complexities of modern systems without sacrificing speed or security. It does so by combining modern architectural principles with innovative technologies.
This section explores the features that make Cerbos a game-changer in reducing the latency problem.
1. Statelessness design
Cerbos' stateless design minimizes latency by eliminating the need to synchronize states across multiple systems or components. This is particularly beneficial in microservices architectures, where many interprocess and interservice calls happen each millisecond. It is also important in large-scale applications where traffic spikes are inevitable. Cerbos comfortably handles the surges since it can scale to meet the demand without introducing delays due to state management or synchronization overhead. Each incoming request is treated as an isolated transaction, ensuring the authorization systems remain responsive and efficient even under heavy load.
2. Decoupled architecture
Another critical factor in minimizing latency within authorization workflows is Cerbos' decoupled architecture. It achieves that by separating the core authorization logic from the rest of the application’s logic. This ensures that authorization decisions are made quickly and independently, without waiting for complex interdependencies.
This approach is advantageous in systems with multiple services, where each service may need to perform several actions before reaching a decision. In such systems, any delay in the authorization process can lead to cascading delays in the entire service chain, ultimately affecting user experience. Cerbos' decoupled nature solves this by allowing each service to manage its authorization processes independently.
The decoupling also allows for easier scaling as it allows each component to grow independently, ensuring that the system can handle high traffic volumes without introducing delays.
3. Edge deployment capabilities
Its edge deployment capabilities effectively reduce latency by processing authorization decisions closer to the user, rather than relying on a centralized point. By distributing authorization logic across edge nodes, requests no longer need to travel long distances to be processed.
Edge deployments also reduce the load on centralized servers, mitigating the potential for bottlenecks. Since the authorization process is handled locally, it can take in more traffic without overwhelming the servers, ensuring the system remains responsive during traffic spikes.
This results in faster response times and reduced network-related delays, making it especially beneficial for applications with global users or real-time authorization needs.
4. Permission-aware data filtering
Cerbos' permission-aware data filtering is another effective strategy for reducing latency in authorization systems. This approach ensures that only the data a principal is permitted to access is retrieved, rather than fetching all the data and then filtering out unauthorized content afterward. By performing this filtering at the data-fetching stage, Cerbos reduces unnecessary data retrieval, cutting down unnecessary computations and data transfers, ensuring faster response times.
Wrapping up
The ability to minimize latency while maintaining a secure and reliable authorization is very critical for today's applications. Cerbos’ features work in harmony to create a unified solution for minimizing latency in authorization workflows. By combining a stateless design with a decoupled architecture, Cerbos eliminates bottlenecks that often arise from managing shared states or waiting for dependent processes. Its edge deployment capabilities bring decision-making closer to the user, drastically reducing network delays, while permission-aware data filtering ensures only necessary data is retrieved and processed. Together, these features create an ecosystem where authorization decisions are not only fast but also highly efficient, even under the pressure of high traffic or complex access control scenarios
Take the next step by trying out Cerbos and see how it can transform your authorization workflows. You can also check out reasons why Cerbos is your perfect partner for your authorization needs.
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