Service Meshes vs. API Gateways: Roles, Benefits, and Common Pitfalls Explained

Discover How Service Meshes and API Gateways Fit into Modern Application Architectures

Service Meshes vs. API Gateways: Roles, Benefits, and Common Pitfalls Explained — Discover How Service Meshes and API Gateways Fit into Modern Application Architectures

In today’s fast-paced world of modern application development, service meshes and API gateways have emerged as pivotal components.

Instead of diving deep into the technicalities of what these products can do, this article aims to provide an overview of where they fit in the ecosystem, how they can help, and some common pitfalls to avoid.

Where Do Service Meshes and API Gateways Fit In?

Service Meshes: The Traffic Controller for Microservices

A service mesh is like an invisible layer of infrastructure that manages communication between microservices, known as east-west traffic.

Figure 1: Service Meshes: The Traffic Controller for Microservices

Imagine a bustling city with countless vehicles (microservices) needing to navigate through intersections (network communication).