Api Gateway easy
What is the primary architectural role of an API Gateway in a microservices environment?
- A To act as a distributed database cluster for storing session state.
- B To serve as a single entry point for all client requests, routing them to the appropriate backend services.
- C To manage the deployment and orchestration of containers in a cluster.
- D To act as a compiler that converts frontend code into backend-compatible binary.
Answer: B. To serve as a single entry point for all client requests, routing them to the appropriate backend services.
The API Gateway acts as a reverse proxy or 'Front Door'. Instead of a client needing to know the URLs of 50 different microservices, it sends all requests to the Gateway. The Gateway then handles routing, effectively decoupling the client from the internal organization of the services.
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- Your Gateway communicates with backends via HTTP/1.1 connections. A slow backend service causes 'Head-of-Line Blocking'. How does switching to HTTP/2 as the Gateway-to-Backend transport mitigate this?
- Why is 'Stateless Token Validation' (e.g., using JWTs) significantly more scalable at the Gateway level than 'Stateful Validation' (e.g., using Opaque/Reference Tokens)?
- Your Gateway is configured to cache any URL ending in `.css` or `.jpg`. An attacker tricks a victim into visiting `https://api.com/v1/profile/info/style.css`. How can this lead to an 'Account Takeover'?
- An API is receiving a sudden surge of 10,000 requests per second from a single IP address. How does an API Gateway preserve the stability of the backend services?
- How can an API Gateway help prevent 'Double Charging' in a payment system when a mobile client retries a failed request due to a poor connection?
- What is the primary operational benefit of performing 'SSL Termination' at the API Gateway?