API Gateway Project — Complete Gateway Implementation

In this tutorial, you will learn about API Gateway Project. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

This project brings together all API gateway concepts. You will build a gateway that routes requests to multiple backend services, applies security policies, and provides observability.

What You'll Learn

You'll build a production-grade API gateway using Kong or NGINX with multiple backend services.

Why It Matters

Building a complete gateway deployment teaches you how all the concepts interact in a real system. This is the most practical way to learn API gateway architecture.

Real-World Use

This project mirrors how companies like Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb deploy their API gateways to manage hundreds of microservices.

flowchart TD
    A[Project Setup] --> B[Deploy Gateway]
    B --> C[Configure Backend Services]
    C --> D[JWT Authentication]
    D --> E[Rate Limiting]
    E --> F[IP Restriction]
    F --> G[Caching]
    G --> H[Logging & Monitoring]
    H --> I[Load Testing]

Project Requirements

• Deploy Kong or NGINX Gateway
• Configure 3 backend services (users, orders, products)
• JWT authentication plugin
• Rate limiting (100/min free, 10000/min pro)
• IP restriction on admin routes
• Response Caching on GET endpoints
• JSON access logging to stdout
• Prometheus metrics endpoint

Mini Project

Complete the full gateway deployment with Docker Compose. Include three backend services, all security plugins, caching, and monitoring. Test with load testing tool (vegeta or wrk).

What's Next

Explore Rate Limiting and Throttling in depth.