Throttling и Circuit Breaker
With high load and many integrations, it is important not only to scale, but also to prevent overloads and avalanche-like failures. Two key mechanisms are used for this:
  • Throttling - controls the frequency of requests in real time, Circuit Breaker - breaks the call chain when failures in dependent services.

They protect the API from falling, increase the fault tolerance of the system and help maintain stable operation even in case of partial failures.


What is throttling

CharacteristicDescription
Frequency limitationControl the number of requests in a given time interval (RPS, RPM)
Flexible tuningEndpoint, key, user, or IP limits
Smooth releaseLoad reduction without full interlock

What is circuit breaker

FunctionWhat does
Error monitoringMonitors the frequency of errors/timeouts in the API or external service
Call disconnectionTemporarily blocks calls when the failure threshold is reached
Automatic recoveryChecking Availability and Enabling Calls During Stabilization

How we implement

Using libraries (e.g. Resilience4j, Hystrix, Envoy, Kong)

Configuring gateway limits and backend logic
  • Event logging and failure/recovery metrics
  • Circuit breaker notifications and dramatically reduced bandwidth
  • Integration with Prometheus, Datadog, Grafana for monitoring

Advantages

Protection against "collapse" of the system in case of failures depending on
  • Stability under load and during incidents
  • Isolate problematic components and improve API reliability
  • Simplified debugging and quick response to anomalies
  • Avoid cascading failures in microservice architecture

Where especially important

APIs interacting with payment gateways and external banks
  • Multi-dependency microservice architectures
  • Applications with millions of users and high resource competition
  • Delay-sensitive realtime platforms

Throttling and circuit breaker are strategic survival mechanisms of the API. We will implement protection that will allow your service to remain stable, fast and predictable even in the most unstable conditions.

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