Item: Amazon API Gateway
Rating: 9
Author: Michael Jenkins

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are using API Gateway (API GW) as an HTTP front end for internal resources including lambda functions and load-balanced web applications. Other teams are using API GW as integration for static resources.

The main problem that API GW addresses for us is providing an authorization management point for access to internal services. We can use the API keys, authorization hooks, and usage plans to really dial in who can access our applications while controlling how they access them.

Pros and Cons

Swagger integration
Rate limiting
API key management
Lambda Integration
Testing and rapid development

Client certificates are troublesome when trying to attach them to API GW stages.
Debugging across several services can be difficult when API GW is integrated with Route 53 and another service like Lambda or EC2/ELB.
Creating internal/private APIs, particularly with custom domains, can be unintuitive.

Return on Investment

Faster API development.
Tighter control over resource access with API keys and usage plans.
Cost savings compared to server based API implementations.

Alternatives Considered

I have reviewed NGINX, Kong, and Azure API Management. While very capable, NGINX and Kong are server-based implementations; my team would prefer not to have another cluster of servers to manage. Having a managed service in API GW is preferable.

While Azure API Management is also a comparable product, the teams I support are heavily invested in AWS making the use of API GW much more approachable.

Key Insights

Do you think Amazon API Gateway delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Amazon API Gateway's feature set?

Yes

Did Amazon API Gateway live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Amazon API Gateway go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Amazon API Gateway again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Amazon Aurora, PagerDuty

Likelihood to Recommend

API GW is great for giving access to asynchronous operations that are fast and don't need to be online all the time. Lambda functions are the classic example.

In the past, an operation that is called on via an HTTP endpoint would be implemented using a server-based solution. With high availability in place that would include a server or two and a load balancer. Over time this setup can be costly, especially if the service is not used at full capacity; cycles are wasted when the servers are sitting there waiting to respond.

If the operation can be distilled down to a function, an API GW + Lambda solution could be put in place that performs the operation as needed only when requested. Comparing the low price point for API GW requests and Lambda CPU+Memory, the savings can be night and day over the server-based implementation.

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability

API Gateway is Great for Integrating REST and HTTP Access to Other AWS Resources

Overall Satisfaction with Amazon API Gateway