The document details the growth and future planning for the Netflix API, highlighting a peak of over 10 billion requests and goals including resiliency, scalability, and simplicity. It proposes a architecture that supports a variety of platforms and devices while ensuring ease of integration for consumers. Additionally, it discusses the importance of pure APIs for consistency, shared interfaces for common functionality, and flexible request handling akin to SQL queries.

1. Netflix APITo Infinity and Beyond…

2. Growth of the Netflix APIOver 10 BILLION requests in November(Peaks at about 10,000 requests per second)

6. It is time to get back to thinking about the future…

7. First Step: Back to the Drawing Board…

8. Some of our Key GoalsResiliency, Reliability and StabilityMaximize uptimeScalabilitySystem can grow without needing frequent refactoringSimplicityEasier integration for API consumersAgilityArchitecture will support rapid development without compromising the core of the system

10. WiiiPad AppPS3iPhoneAppNetflix APIApple TVGoogle TVTiVoRokuXBox

11. Future Architecture needs to support key audience first with a trickle down of features to the public audienceWiiRokuPS3iPhoneAppiPad AppGoogle TVNetflix APIApple TVXBoxTiVo

12. Hide Our Internal Business Dependencies from API Consumers

13. (Some) API Interfaces and Their DependenciesAuto-CompleteRental HistoryAggListsSimilarsLIstsQueuesSEARCHSIMILARS SYSTEMRECOMMENDATION ENGINEQUEUERENTAL HISTORYTitle DetailsPreviewsRatingsRecommendationsTitle StatesCINEMATCHCONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMTITLE STATESREST InterfaceAPI Dependency

14. INTERNET REQUESTUNIFIED LIST/TITLE RESPONSEWITH PARTIAL RESPONSE BUILT INSIMILARSLISTSEARCHLISTRENTAL HISTORYLISTTITLE LISTQUEUELISTAUTOCOMPLETELISTETC…TITLE INFORMATIONTITLESTATERATINGRECOMMENDATIONTITLE DETAILS

15. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperPS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

16. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHESE ARE SOME OF THE DATA SOURCES THAT PROVIDE CONTENT TO THE APIPS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

17. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHESE ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY SOME OF THE API DEPENDENCIES THROUGH WHICH CONTENT IS MADE AVAILABLE TO THE APIPS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

18. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHIS IS THE LAYER WHERE THE API CAN NORMALIZE THE DATA TO PREPARE IT FOR CONSUMPTION BY API CLIENTS. IT COULD ALSO BE WHERE THE API CAN APPLY RESILIENCY MEASURES TO PROTECT AGAINST FAILURES FROM THE API DEPENDENCIES.ALTHOUGH THE DIAGRAM REPRESENTS THIS AS A DISCRETE API LAYER, IT COULD JUST AS EASILY BE A DISTRIBUTED MODEL ACROSS THE DEPENDENCIES.PS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

19. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperMAKING PURE APIs WILL IMPROVE THE CONSISTENCY OF THE API CODE AND THOSE THAT CONSUME IT. THIS WOULD HELP PRODUCT MANAGERS AS WELL SINCE THE CODE FOR THEIR PRODUCTS CAN ALSO BECOME MORE UNIFORM.PS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

20. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHE SHARED API INTERFACE LAYER ALLOWS THE VARIOUS CLIENTS TO MERGE RESULTS FROM THE PURE APIs AND PREPARE THEM IN WAYS THAT ARE CONDUCIVE TO THE GOALS OF THEIR APP. MEANWHILE, ANY OF THESE INTERFACES CAN BE SHARED ACROSS THE CLIENTS SINCE MANY OF THESE INTERFACES WILL BE COMMON ACROSS THE PLATFORMS.PS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

21. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHE WRAPPER LAYER IS DESIGNED TO CONSUME THE PURE APIS AND/OR THE SHARED INTERFACES WHILE ALLOWING DEVICE/APP-SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATIONS. SOME OF THESE WRAPPERS ARE THEORETICAL WHILE OTHERS MAY ACTUALLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TIER.PS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

22. iPhone WrapperRecommend-ationRecommend-ation ServiceXbox WrapperRatings ServiceSHAREDAPIINTER-FACESLIST APIRatingsWii WrapperTHESE ARE SOME OF THE ACTUAL INTERNAL API CUSTOMERS TODAY. THIS LIST WILL GROW OVER TIME, BUT THIS ARCHITECTURE WILL SCALE ACCORDINGLY.PS3 WrapperTITLE APIRental HistoryRental History ServiceRoku WrapperUSER APIUser AccountiPad WrapperNormal-izationAnd ResiiencyAppleTV WrapperQueueAUTHAPIPC / Mac WrapperTitle CatalogTiVo WrapperSource Data LayerAPI Repository LayerWeb Service LayerShared LayerWrapper LayerAPI LayerApp Layer

23. Flexible API RequestsAs flexible as SQLSELECT person_first_name, person_last_name, dept_nameFROM person, department WHERE UPPER(dept_name) LIKE ‘%Engineering%’AND person_added_date BETWEEN ‘2002-01-01’ AND sysdateORDER BY person_last_name ASCManages Partial ResponseDetermines the Selected APIRestricts OutputSorts ResultsGOAL: API should be able to handle any request that you can do in SQL

24. The Problem with Versioning1.01.52.03.0?4.0?5.0?Today

25. Maybe we don’t need versioning?1.01.52.0Future APIsToday

26. Branching can always be done later…1.01.52.0New APIToday

27. XML vs. JSON?Or both? Or other?xml

28. REST…as long as it makes sense for the business

29. Questions?API ManagementEngineering Manager – Web API Systems: http://bit.ly/9O3HicAPI Integration Systems Analyst: http://bit.ly/hyPxChAPI EngineeringSenior Software Engineer/Architect – Web API Platform: http://bit.ly/e0AKw4API Test EngineeringSenior Software Engineer in Test – API: http://bit.ly/9zHPtJSenior Software Engineer in Test – API Platform: http://bit.ly/eD3tLnLead Software Engineer in Test – API: http://bit.ly/fqxBYCSocial EngineeringSocial Systems – Engineer Architect: http://bit.ly/dYq6C8