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Microservicessystem_design~12 mins

API key management in Microservices - Architecture Diagram

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System Overview - API key management

This system manages API keys for users and services. It securely generates, stores, validates, and revokes API keys to control access to APIs. The system must be scalable, secure, and provide fast validation for incoming requests.

Architecture Diagram
User
  |
  v
Load Balancer
  |
  v
API Gateway
  |
  +-------------------+
  |                   |
  v                   v
API Key Service     Business Service
  |                   |
  v                   v
Database (API Keys)  Database (Business Data)
  |
  v
Cache (API Keys)
Components
User
client
Sends API requests with API keys
Load Balancer
load_balancer
Distributes incoming requests evenly to API Gateway instances
API Gateway
api_gateway
Receives requests, validates API keys, routes to services
API Key Service
service
Generates, stores, validates, and revokes API keys
Business Service
service
Handles business logic after API key validation
Database (API Keys)
database
Stores API key data securely
Cache (API Keys)
cache
Caches API key validation results for fast lookup
Database (Business Data)
database
Stores business-related data
Request Flow - 15 Hops
User → Load Balancer
Load Balancer → API Gateway
API Gateway → Cache (API Keys)
Cache (API Keys) → API Gateway
API Gateway → API Key Service
API Key Service → Database (API Keys)
Database (API Keys) → API Key Service
API Key Service → Cache (API Keys)
API Key Service → API Gateway
API Gateway → Business Service
Business Service → Database (Business Data)
Database (Business Data) → Business Service
Business Service → API Gateway
API Gateway → Load Balancer
Load Balancer → User
Failure Scenario
Component Fails:Cache (API Keys)
Impact:API Gateway cannot quickly validate API keys from cache, causing increased latency due to database queries.
Mitigation:System falls back to API Key Service querying the database directly. Cache is rebuilt asynchronously. This ensures correctness but with slower response times.
Architecture Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
Which component is responsible for distributing incoming user requests evenly?
ALoad Balancer
BAPI Gateway
CAPI Key Service
DCache
Design Principle
This architecture uses caching to speed up API key validation and separates concerns by having a dedicated API Key Service. It ensures scalability by load balancing and maintains security by centralizing key management.