Is your SaaS getting too sassy with you? Is your dashboard getting dashed with an unrealistic number of requests or a ridiculous rate of requests? Maybe you are getting “error message” for the tenth time while you wait fifteen minutes for authentication.
If your online business is experiencing the API blues, maybe you can benefit from a web API throttling solution. Let us examine some very good reasons for why API throttling can help your business.
Speed
Let’s say that your business is fully digitized and you have lots of organic traffic. That is not a bad problem to have. Let’s also say that your business needs to communicate with partners and other businesses that support your business: suppliers, delivery, distribution, etc.
In such a situation, it is only natural that there will be a lot of communication between apps, such as emails sent to your inbox, social media messaging, and platform communications. In the app world, this communication means API and requires an API system.
That is all fine and good if there is a reasonable number of requests and you are dealing with a manageable rate of requests. However, if your request route is clogged with API requests and API calls, then you will need to set a rate limit via a gateway. In this way, the important software and apps at your web API endpoint are protected from being swamped.
This is a very basic web API throttle. Depending on the nature of your online business, a delay in some number of seconds or even milliseconds can make a big difference, especially if you are trying to prevent latency for algorithms or HFX trading.
Security
Protecting data is not about just you. It is about your employees, your clients, and your partners. The parameters you set for an IP address, your data storage, and any number of items related to cybersecurity should enable you to prepare for a whole host of different scenarios. That includes fortifying your workspace with a web API throttle policy or new throttle policy that sets a throttle limit at the gateway to protect the sensitive data at the API endpoint.
Hacks, malicious attacks, malware, and denial of service (DOS) attacks are all part of the realities that any API handler has to be prepared to deal with. If you are having trouble in this area, you need a new throttle policy.
Setting new rate limits with query parameters can greatly increase security. Creating a scenario in which a client is given an access token or client API key adds another layer of protection.
Monetization
Anytime you want to begin the monetization of a site or platform for an online business, blog post, or social media venture, it makes sense to limit the number of API requests within a given period of time. Deciding on the correct number of requests per hour, per minute, and per second, however, can be a very tricky business.
The thing to understand is that the API endpoint of your web API throttle is often the endpoint of your sales pipeline. If the client application is delayed by too many API requests, then the client might not access the call-to-action button at the endpoint of the sales pipeline.
What the web API throttle message handler needs to do is make sure that the action filter has a new throttle policy to limit the number of concurrent requests throughout the queue within a given time frame. The new request from the client application needs permission to enter the gateway and ultimately reach a specific endpoint.
Key takeaways for web API and throttling systems are that they can greatly improve one’s online business. An unchecked number of requests or concurrent requests within a given time frame can greatly impair your speed, security, and monetization of your website, platform, or blog post.
