Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)Cloud Native ArchitectureMedium
A platform team is designing an API Gateway for a suite of financial microservices. They need to implement rate limiting, authentication, and request routing based on the URL path, all before requests reach the individual backend services. Which feature of an API Gateway directly enables dynamic request routing to different services based on the incoming request's path?
- APath-based Routing
- BCircuit Breaking
- CService Discovery
- DLoad Balancing
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Path-based Routing
Path-based routing is a core feature of API Gateways that allows requests to be directed to different backend services based on the specific URL path in the incoming request, enabling flexible and organized API exposure.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Circuit breaking prevents cascading failures by stopping requests to failing services, unrelated to initial request routing based on path.
- C. Service discovery helps the gateway find service instances, but doesn't define how incoming requests are mapped to them based on path.
- D. Load balancing distributes traffic among healthy instances of a single service, not to different services based on path.
API Gateway Path-based Routing
A feature of API Gateways that directs incoming client requests to specific backend services or endpoints based on the URL path in the request.
- Maps URL paths to backend services.
- Enables multiple services to share a single entry point.
- Supports versioning (e.g., /v1/users, /v2/products).
- Crucial for organizing microservices APIs.
Memory trick: The API Gateway is a smart bouncer, checking IDs, limiting guests, and directing them to the right room.