The document outlines a presentation on the NGINX Controller and its role in API management, highlighting its features and functionalities such as simplified management, deployment agility, and performance monitoring. It discusses the evolution of NGINX since its inception and emphasizes the importance of APIs in enabling collaboration, unlocking data, and generating revenue streams. The document also covers key capabilities like rate limiting, authentication, and analytics to optimize API performance and security.

1. NGINX Controller
API Management
23-Jan-2019

2. Agenda
1. Introducing NGINX
2. NGINX Controller
3. The need for API
Management
4. How NGINX does
API Management
5. Live demo
6. Q&A

3. 3
“... when I started NGINX,
I focused on a very specific
problem – how to handle more
customers per a single server.”
- Igor Sysoev, NGINX creator and founder

4. Introducing NGINX
4
2004
• NGINX 0.1
2007
• “Viable”
2011
• NGINX, Inc.
• NGINX 1.0
2013
• NGINX Plus R1
2018
• NGINX Plus R17
• NGINX Unit 1.0
• Controller 1.0
2019
• Controller 2.0
(API mgmt.)

5. • Offices in San Francisco, Cork, Cambridge, Moscow,
Singapore and Sydney
• 400M websites
• 1,500+ commercial customers
• 250 employees

6. Source: W3Techs Web server ranking, 07-Jan-2019
#1for the busiest sites
The busiest sites choose NGINX
49%
60%
66%
Top 1M Top 100K Top 10K

7. 40%NGINX Plus deployed as an API gateway
Source: NGINX User survey 2017, 2018

8. NGINX
Application
Platform
The industry’s only
solution that drives
10x simplification and
80% cost savings by
combining load
balancers, API
gateway, and service
mesh into a single,
modular platform

9. Why NGINX Controller?
9
Simplified
Management
Strategic
Command
Deployment
Agility
Effortlessly deploy, validate
and troubleshoot multiple
NGINX Plus instances across
a multi cloud environment
Enable developers to deploy
new features and
applications faster
Prevent outages by gaining
deep visibility and following
best practice performance
and security
recommendations

10. NGINX Controller
Mission control for your
applications

11. NGINX Controller
Mission control for your
applications
Full lifecycle management
for your APIs

12. Why develop APIs?
• Break down siloes and unlock
data (within and among
organizations)
• Increase collaboration
amongst developers
Unlock data
• Primary interface for
communication
amongst microservices.
Foundational for
microservices
• New opportunities to generate
revenue and build partnerships
with third-party developers and
entire business ecosystem of
suppliers, distributors,
resellers, and even customers
• Expose APIs via Dev Portal
• “Digital marketplace” for an
enterprise
New digital revenue
stream
External APIsInternal APIs

13. APIs Are Experiencing Explosive Growth
Source: https://www.programmableweb.com/news/research-shows-interest-providing-apis-still-high/research/2018/02/23

14. API as a source of revenue
14
Source: 2014 Search Security article:
https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/2240222882/API-gateways-emerge-to-address-growing-security-demands
50% of
Salesforce’s
revenues come
from APIs
90% of
Expedia's
revenues come
from APIs

15. API Management
API
Management
Definition &
Publication
Security
Traffic
Mgmt.
(API GW)
Ongoing
Monitoring &
Maintenance
Analytics to
Assess API
Value
Onboarding
(Dev Portal)
15

16. How NGINX does API Management
16

17. NGINX
Controller
No-compromise architecture
Monolith API
Microservice Microservice Microservice
Monolith API
Monolith API
NGINX
Controller
Microservices / Microgateway Architecture
Policy
Policy

18. What Is NGINX Controller
API Management Module?
18

19. Data plane (NGINX Plus) does not require runtime
connectivity to control plane (NGINX Controller)
Reduce Complexity with NGINX
19
API Management including definition, monitoring and analytics is decoupled
from API GW resulting in high performance. Results:
• Reduces average response time to serve API calls
• Minimizes footprint and complexity of API GW
• Same high performance regardless of where API GW is deployed
(whether to handle N/S traffic or E/W traffic)
• No need for additional software components

20. Key Capabilities
20
API Definition &
Publication
Monitor & Analyze
Performance
Overview Dashboard
Customizable
Dashboards
Troubleshoot Issues
with Alerts
Extract Insights with
REST API Support
Support for Multi-
Cloud Environment
Rate Limiting
Authentication &
Authorization

21. Support for Multi-Cloud Environment
21
NGINX Controller is a Docker package
Can be deployed on any public
or private cloud
Can manage NGINX Plus instances
on any public or private cloud

22. Extract Insights with REST API Support
22
REST API:
Securely extract health and
performance metrics and
integrate into monitoring
tool of choice

23. Controller Vision
23
• Orchestration platform
for all NGINX Plus
products
• Analytics platform for
all NGINX Plus
products
• Modular, use case
centric approach
• Ecosystem friendly
CLIGUI
App Delivery API Management
NGINX Controller
Orchestration Analytics
NGINX Plus
Service Mesh

25. API Definition & Publication
• Create multiple API definitions using an
intuitive interface
◦ Create upstream groups and backend servers
◦ Create API definitions and resources
◦ Route resources to upstream groups
◦ Publish resulting config to NGINX Plus
instances (API gateway)
◦ Configures NGINX Plus as an API gateway
based on best practices
25

26. Rate Limiting
• Mitigate DDoS attacks and protect your
applications by setting rate limits:
◦ Specify the maximum request rate for each client,
consumer, or resource
◦ Enforce two-stage rate limits: Delay and reject
◦ Protect API endpoints and ensure SLAs for API
consumers
◦ Define multiple rate limiting policies based on the
varying needs of your API consumers
26

27. Authentication & Authorization
• Create and manage API keys for API
consumers in order to to authenticate and
provide access to resources :
◦ Import API keys from external systems
◦ Share with API consumers
27

28. Monitor & Analyze Performance
28
• Is any API GW unavailable?
• When do we see a slowdown?
• Where are HTTP errors occurring?
Deep visibility and insights into KPIs (per
API GW basis) using an agent:
• Visualize real time traffic and system
stats
• Analyze usage & performance trends
including for 200 metrics:
• System (OS )
• NGINX Plus instance

29. Overview Dashboard
29
• Overview page: Summarizes
metrics across multiple instances
◦ Unique Application Health Score:
Aggregate measure of successful
requests and timely responses
◦ CPU usage
◦ Performance
◦ Errors
• Verify health of environment
• Helps showcase application health
to key stakeholders

30. Customize Dashboards
30
Measure what matters to you by
creating your own dashboard:
• Start quickly from pre-defined
templates
• Create from scratch
• Create dashboards specific to
an Entry Point

31. Troubleshoot Issues with Alerts
31
Helps you meet your SLAs by
ensuring performance and reliability
of your applications:
• Receive alerts based
on thresholds
• See errors in real time
• Upcoming slack integration
allows easy collaboration
with team members

32. 33
Getting
Started
• Request a free trial
from our website
• Set up Controller in
a few minutes
• Start managing your
APIs immediately

33. Liam Crilly | liam@nginx.com
Q&A