Proxy reverse vs API Gateway vs Load Balancer

#programming #systemdesign #development #apigateway

For a large project that only works on one server, every day is a less realistic. For this problem handling a lot of traffic, you need to scaled vertically or horizontally.

Vertically: add more memory, and CPU, but have a limit for this.
Horizontally: add more servers or instances in a distributed manner to handle the load. the best option for maintaining the project

So the best strategies to maintain horizontal scaling are: Reverse Proxy, API Gateway and Load Balancer.

Reverse Proxy

This is the simplest, it is a server that acts as an intermediary between clients and the destination server(s). It sits between the client and the backend services or servers.

Functionality:

Load Balancing: Distributes client requests across multiple servers to balance load and ensure reliability.
Security: Provides an additional layer of defense (hides the identities of backend servers).
Caching: Can cache content to reduce server load and improve performance.
SSL Termination: Handles SSL encryption and decryption, offloading that responsibility from backend servers.
Use Cases: Commonly used in both monolithic and microservices architectures to enhance security, load balancing, and caching.

https://ngrok.com/blog-post/reverse-proxy-vs-api-gateway

API Gateway

Acts as a middleware component that sits between clients and backend services, is a management tool that acts as a single entry point for a defined group of microservices, handling requests and routing them to the appropriate service.

Functionality:

Routing: Routes requests to the correct microservice.
Aggregation: Aggregates results from multiple microservices.
Cross-Cutting Concerns: Handles cross-cutting concerns like authentication, authorization, rate limiting, and logging.
Protocol Translation: Can translate between web protocols (HTTP, WebSockets) and backend protocols.
Use Cases: Typically used in microservices architectures to provide a unified interface to a set of independently deployable services.

https://ngrok.com/blog-post/reverse-proxy-vs-api-gateway

Load Balancer

Act as a traffic distributor, evenly sending network traffic across several units or resources so that the units operate at the optimal capacity

Use:

You have multiple instances of the same backend service running.
You need to ensure high availability and responsiveness of your services.
You want to scale your application horizontally by adding or removing servers.
You want to handle server failures gracefully without affecting service availability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQuuoHTyYz8&ab_channel=ByteByteGo

Key Difference between API Gateway, Load Balancer, and Reverse Proxy

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/load-balancer-vs-reverse-proxy-api-gateway-debakanta-jena-hadsf/

Conclusion

In summary, both API gateways and load balancers are fundamental components in modern network architectures, and remember, always start with the minimum necessary as reverse proxy, there will always be time to climb higher!