Rate Limiting

Rate limiting APIs ko overuse aur abuse se protect karta hai, ensuring stable performance aur fair usage by controlling the frequency of requests.

Key Concepts

• Rate Limit: Maximum requests allowed in a time window.
• Time Window: Duration over which the limit applies (e.g., per minute).
• Quota: Total allowed requests in a time period.
• Throttle: Blocking or delaying requests once the limit is reached.

Common Strategies

1. Fixed Window Limiting
2. Sliding Window Limiting
3. Token Bucket Limiting
4. Leaky Bucket Limiting

1. Fixed Window Limiting

Description:

Yeh method requests ko fixed time window (e.g., 100 requests per minute) mein count karta hai.

Advantages:

• Simple aur straightforward.

Disadvantages:

• Burst traffic mein unfairness cause ho sakti hai.

2. Sliding Window Limiting

Description:

Rolling time window use karta hai for more accurate limiting.

Advantages:

• Fair aur consistent.

Disadvantages:

• Thoda complex implement karna.

3. Token Bucket Limiting

Description:

Tokens fixed rate pe bucket mein add hote hain; each request ek token consume karti hai.

Advantages:

• Flexible aur burst traffic handle karta hai.

Disadvantages:

• Complex implement karna.

4. Leaky Bucket Limiting

Description:

Fixed rate se requests process hoti hain; overflow requests delay ya block hoti hain.

Advantages:

• Burst traffic smooth karta hai.

Disadvantages:

• Less flexible, careful tuning required.

Rate Limiting Headers

• X-RateLimit-Limit: Max allowed requests.
• X-RateLimit-Remaining: Remaining requests.
• X-RateLimit-Reset: Time when the limit resets.

Best Practices

1. Clear Documentation: Rate limits ko API documentation mein explain karo.
2. Proper Error Handling: 429 Too Many Requests status code aur retry-after header use karo.
3. Response Headers: Rate limit info provide karo using headers.
4. Granular Limits: Different endpoints aur user types ke liye different limits define karo.
5. Monitoring: Request patterns track karo aur limits adjust karo.
6. Enforcement: Consistently rate limiting policies apply karo.

Conclusion

Effective rate limiting se API usage fair hota hai, performance stable rehti hai, aur abuse se protection milta hai. Appropriate strategies aur best practices use karke traffic efficiently manage karo aur reliable API maintain karo. 🌐🚀