The Kubernetes API Gateway Buyer’s Guide
According to the “State of API Security Q1 Report 2023,” 94% of respondents have experienced security problems in production APIs over the past year.
Prioritizing API security with the best API Gateway for Kubernetes development is essential to avoid proliferating security issues as API technology adoption expands.
But where do you start when it comes to managing APIs in Kubernetes environments? Which API solution is right for you?
Download our Kubernetes API Gateway Buyer’s Guide for an in-depth analysis of what features and functionality to prioritize when picking your API Gateway.
What is an API Gateway?
An API Gateway acts as a reverse proxy to accept all application programming interface (API) calls, determine the various services required to fulfill them, and return the appropriate result. In Kubernetes-based environments, this is particularly important as it can simplify the complexity of handling multiple microservices and different endpoints.
Think of it as a traffic cop at the intersection of your apps and services. The best API Gateway for Kubernetes environments should act as a traffic management tool that directs all these requests from one location, making it easier to manage, guiding them to the right places, and ensuring everyone understands each other.
How to choose the right API Gateway for your Kubernetes setup?
This guide will delve into the pivotal role an API Gateway plays in securing your API development activities, covering:
- Scalability & performance
- Security & authentication
- Traffic management
- Logging, monitoring, & analytics
- Extensibility & plugins
- Support for multiple protocols
Why is an API Gateway important?
In Kubernetes-based environments, this is particularly important as it can simplify the complexity of handling multiple microservices and different endpoints. Benefits of an API Gateway include centralized management - making it easier to monitor and control access to your APIs; performance optimization including load balancing, and caching; and enhanced security - handling authentication, authorization, and encryption to protect your backend services.
Best API Gateway for Kubernetes: A Comparative Analysis
Edge Stack API Gateway
Choose
Comprehensive Network Capabilities (Generic APIs required paid plugins) | ||
WAF | ||
Authentication (Generic APIs required paid plugins) | ||
Advanced Rate Limiting (Generic APIs required paid plugins) | ||
GitOps | ||
Admin Portal (Edge Stack is read-only or does code generation) | ||
Mesh, Mocking, API Development Tool | ||
No Other Infrastructure Required (Generic APIs can require a production-ready Postgres db for full functionality) | ||
What are the key points of integration with an API Gateway?
Most importantly for a Kubernetes infrastructure, your API Gateway must be designed for...you guessed it: Kubernetes. Ultimately, as a central player in your technology ecosystem, the API Gateway will likely need to connect to your entire tool stack. In this guide, we will explore the essential integrations you should take into account, as well as delve into potential compatibility challenges that may arise if you opt for a generic API Gateway as opposed to one that is specifically tailored for Kubernetes environments.
Best API Gateway for Kubernetes
The best API Gateway for Kubernetes success is the one that solves your problem in an affordable, scaleable, and Kubernetes-focused way. We may be biased on using Edge Stack, but download our full buyer’s guide to see which one works best for your Kubernetes developer needs.
Edge Stack makes it very easy for us to manage endpoints across all our regions worldwide and is able to seamlessly adapt and work with every region’s 80 different endpoints, each with varying configuration requirements.
Nashon Steffen
Staff Infrastructure Development Engineer | Mercedes-Benz