API gateways typically promise a streamlined experience, but they often fall short as requirements evolve. Their architecture, built on multiple technologies, becomes cumbersome as complexity grows. This can lead to scaling headaches that hinder your ability to adapt to shifting demands.
The HarperDB API Gateway breaks the mold. Unlike its predecessors, it's built entirely on HarperDB, a single, distributed systems technology. By building with HarperDB, services are not limited by bulky multi-technology architectures that have defined tech stacks for decades. This innovative single-platform approach is easy to scale across a distributed user base, ensuring unmatched agility that meets everchanging needs.
HarperDB’s fully managed API Gateway offers flexible authentication options. You can authenticate users directly with JWT or API keys on any gateway node. Alternatively, leverage mTLS to connect with edge-based authentication systems for an additional security layer. This flexibility empowers you to choose the optimal security posture for your specific API requirements.
Building upon the strong foundation of authentication, HarperDB empowers you with fine-grained authorization controls. You can define granular access rules that determine what resources users can access within your APIs, what actions they can perform, and the specific data they are authorized to see. These access controls can be tailored to individual users, groups, or API keys, ensuring only authorized entities can access the appropriate resources within your APIs. This granular control minimizes security risks and empowers you to implement a least privilege approach, granting users only the permissions they absolutely need.
Distributed gateways often struggle with consistent rate limiting and quota enforcement. HarperDB overcomes this challenge with CRDT incrementation. This innovative data type ensures accurate usage counts across decentralized nodes, guaranteeing consistent management of both request frequency (rate limiting) and total allowed requests (quotas) – regardless of location. With HarperDB, you can enjoy smooth enforcement for fixed and sliding window implementations.
For those with large endpoint portfolios and complex throttling requirements, HarperDB provides the flexibility to manage endpoints with both group-based and individual endpoint policies. Additionally, throughput limitations can be set uniformly, with a tiered user model, or on the individual token level, giving you complete and efficient control.
Gain valuable insights into API usage across your distributed system with tailored monitoring and analytics. Track request volumes, response times, and throttle frequency to monitor system health and alert sales teams of account expansion opportunities. Take this even further with built-in real-time messaging functionality, ready to notify your infrastructure team of the next growth milestone.
Say goodbye to traffic management headaches. With HarperDB, real-time routing decisions can be based on factors like URL path, headers, custom logic, or telemetry data. This ensures that traffic is efficiently directed to the optimal service location, keeping everything running smoothly.
Simplify data manipulation by directly defining request and response transformations within your gateway. Convert data formats, add authentication headers, or tailor responses to specific client needs – all handled seamlessly before requests reach your backend services or responses reach clients.
With a single GraphQL query, you can efficiently retrieve data from various sources and present a unified response to clients. By taking advantage of GraphQL as part of your gateway, you have fewer systems in play, keeping service delivery efficient and maintainable while ensuring that every query gets precisely what it needs. Take this one step further by leveraging built-in caching capabilities to deliver the ultimate low-latency experience.
Forget the hassle of layering in additional caching solutions. HarperDB boasts a built-in, globally synchronized cache. This innovative feature ensures data consistency and low-latency responses across all gateway nodes. Experience the benefit of serving frequently accessed data directly from your gateway, significantly reducing backend load and obliterating latency.
HarperDB's fully managed API Gateway offers robust functions for distributed API management at scale. By building on top of HarperDB's distributed systems, your gateway delivers unmatched distributed scalability, security, and feature depth. From streamlined authentication and authorization to intelligent caching and aggregation, HarperDB's fully managed API Gateway empowers you to focus on innovation, not infrastructure. Don't just take our word for it—see the difference firsthand. Contact HarperDB for a complimentary proof of concept.
