In modern enterprises, APIs are no longer just integration points — they are business products that must be secure, observable, scalable, and monetizable.
Recently, I worked on designing an enterprise-grade API Gateway architecture using WSO2 API Manager, focusing on both external partners and high-throughput internal consumers.
Some key design principles behind this architecture 👇
🔹 Clear separation of concerns
- External clients/partners can connect via Internet or VPN
- Internal services follow a low-latency, high-trust path
- Security policies differ, but governance remains centralized
🔹 Defense in depth
- DDoS protection at the edge (before traffic even reaches the gateway)
- NGINX as a dedicated load balancer (HA, health checks, TLS handling)
- OAuth2 / JWT / mTLS depending on trust level and use case
🔹 Scalable API runtime
- Multiple WSO2 API Gateway instances for horizontal scalability
- Stateless gateway design for easier scale-out
- Fine-grained rate limiting, throttling, and spike protection
🔹 Fast internal API consumption
- Local JWT validation (no introspection per request)
- mTLS for service-to-service communication
- Designed for heavy internal usage without unnecessary latency
🔹 Observability & monetization built-in
- End-to-end monitoring, metrics, tracing, and correlation IDs
- Usage metering for billing, chargeback, or partner monetization
- PostgreSQL HA setup with PITR for reliability
This kind of architecture works well for banking, fintech, government, and large enterprise platforms, where availability, security, and auditability are non-negotiable.
Architecture is not about tools — it’s about making the right trade-offs, early.
#APIGateway #WSO2 #SoftwareArchitecture #IntegrationArchitecture
#APIManagement #Fintech #BankingIT #CloudArchitecture #SystemDesign