API Gateway provides the following features and benefits:

• Multi-Protocol Support: The API Gateway supports various protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, gRPC, and gRPCS, allowing you to expose APIs built with different technologies.

• Load Balancing: Distribute incoming traffic efficiently across your backend services using round-robin with weights or least connection algorithms.

• Flexible Routing: Route API requests to the appropriate backend service based on specific patterns within the URL path or query parameters.

• API Observability: Access comprehensive logs to monitor API activity and troubleshoot any issues.

• Metrics and Logs Collection: Obtain detailed metrics directly from the API Gateway to gain insights into API performance, resource utilization, and logs.

• Traffic Control: By managing API traffic, API Gateways help control the rate of requests, enforce rate limiting, and optimize resource utilization, ensuring efficient handling of incoming requests.

• Monitoring: API Gateways offer monitoring and analytics capabilities to track API operation, performance criteria, and error rates. This data helps dissect and optimize API operations for better performance and trustability.

• Version Control: API Gateways support versioning and lifecycle management of APIs, enabling smooth transitions between versions, backward compatibility, and centralized control over API changes.

• Integration with Backend Services: API Gateways facilitate seamless integration with backend services, databases, cloud resources, and external systems, streamlining communication and data exchange within the system.

Based on IONOS API Gateway features and benefits, the following use cases are derived that meet your business demands:

• Routing Requests to Appropriate Backend Services: By routing requests to the appropriate backend services, API Gateways ensure that incoming API requests are directed to the correct destinations, enabling efficient communication and seamless interaction between clients and backend systems.

• Managing and Securing API Access: This will be supported in later versions.

• Monitoring and Logging API Traffic: By actively monitoring and logging API traffic within an API Gateway, you can enhance operational visibility, ensure system reliability, optimize performance, and promptly address issues to deliver a seamless and secure API experience.

• Serverless Applications: Offering a flexible and efficient way to build and manage APIs in a cloud-native environment. By leveraging the benefits of serverless computing, you can focus on developing your application logic.

• Legacy System Modernization: API gateways can expose legacy systems as modern APIs. This allows newer applications to interact with older systems without requiring extensive modifications to the legacy codebase.

• Mobile and Web Applications: API Gateways provide a secure and scalable way to handle API requests from mobile and web applications. They can also implement features like rate limiting and caching, which can improve their performance.

• Internet of Things (IoT): API Gateways can manage many API requests generated by IoT devices and implement security measures to protect them from unauthorized access.

• B2B Integrations: It is possible to facilitate secure and reliable business communication. API Gateways can be used to manage access to APIs, enforce security policies, and monitor API usage.

• Transforming API Protocols and Data Formats: API Gateways can mediate between protocols (for example, REST to SOAP) and data formats, enabling seamless communication between diverse systems. Static Web Hosting: Using IONOS Object Storage for static web hosting with an API Gateway involves allowing your API Gateway to serve or interact with the static content stored in an IONOS Object Storage bucket.

When working with API Gateway, gRPC and WebSocket are two different communication protocols that serve distinct purposes.

WebSocket is suitable for real-time applications like chat apps or live data streaming. API Gateway's WebSocket APIs provide a managed solution for handling WebSocket connections and routing messages to backend services.

When using the IONOS API Gateway to set up a WebSocket API, you can create routes to handle different types of WebSocket events, such as connecting, disconnecting, and sending messages:

• Connect: This route is triggered when you connect to the WebSocket API.

• Disconnect: This route is activated when you disconnect from the WebSocket API.

• Custom Routes: You can define custom routes for specific actions your WebSocket API should handle, for example, /sendMessage for sending messages between users.

This section highlights the observability features of the API Gateway. The API Gateway currently supports metrics and logs. When enabled, all logs and metrics are transmitted to our observability system, where they can be queried and analyzed for valuable insights. Central logging must be enabled for this functionality, ensuring effective monitoring and troubleshooting of API traffic. This allows for proactive identification and resolution of potential issues, enhancing overall system performance and reliability.

Accessing Logs & Metrics

Once central logging is enabled, logs from your API Gateway will be sent to the logging service. You can access and analyze these logs and metrics using a dedicated Grafana instance.

Grafana Instance URL

The URL for your Grafana instance is automatically made available when your API is first created. You can retrieve this URL using a GET request from the API Gateway (specific API details will be provided in a separate section). By leveraging central logging and Grafana, you gain valuable insights into your API's performance, identify potential issues, and ensure optimal API health.

Enabling Central Logging

• Requirement: Enabling central logging is mandatory for the API Gateway to send logs.

• Configuration: Send a PUT request to the logging service endpoint to enable central logging. Here's an example using curl:

curl -X "PUT" "https://logging.de-txl.ionos.com/central" \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -H 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \
     -d '{ "properties": { "enabled": true } }'

API Gateway is a managed service that provides a centralized public entry point for API calls. It enables seamless integration and communication between services, applications, and clients. It is designed to simplify the process of creating, deploying, and managing APIs in a scalable and secure manner.

With the API Gateway, you can monitor API usage, track performance metrics, and generate logs for analysis and troubleshooting. With API Gateway, you can route incoming API requests to the appropriate backend services based on defined routing rules, ensuring efficient communication between clients and services.

You can use IONOS S3 for static web hosting as an upstream for an API Gateway, allowing you to read content stored in the S3 bucket.

API Gateway Access

You can access the API Gateway by using the DCD (a browser-based interface) or REST API Instructions for using the Console and API, which are included in topics throughout this documentation. For a list of available SDKs, see Software Development Kits. For general information about using the API, see REST APIs.

Limitations