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One of the most important decisions when it comes to implementing an API management solution is deciding how to integrate with the existing IT infrastructure. Apigee offers two different integration approaches: Apigee Integrations and Apigee External Callout Policies. Both have pros and cons, and it can be difficult to determine which is best for a particular implementation. When considering which approach to take, there are a few key factors to consider, such as the architecture of the existing infrastructure, the complexity of the integration, and the scalability and reliability of the integration. In this article, we will compare Apigee Integrations and Apigee External Callout Policies and discuss what factors to consider when selecting an integration approach.

Overview of Apigee Integrations and Apigee External Callout Policy

Apigee Integrations are APIs that are built in to the Apigee product itself. They enable communication between the Apigee platform and other software components. By comparison, Apigee External Callout Policies are APIs that are deployed as services outside of the Apigee product, and clients talk to the APIs via an external URL. In both cases, clients are authenticated by an API key, and the services are fully available over both HTTP and HTTPS. APIs are available over HTTPS because the traffic is encrypted, and it is therefore more secure. Both Apigee Integrations and External Callout Policies enable you to use Apigee to orchestrate and automate API calls to other services, such as HTTP endpoints or databases. You can also call out to external services. The difference between the two approaches is in where the APIs are actually hosted. With Apigee Integrations, the APIs are hosted within the Apigee platform. With External Callout Policies, the APIs are hosted outside of the Apigee platform.

Architecture of the existing infrastructure

If the architecture of the existing infrastructure dictates that you host your APIs externally, then External Callout Policies are the best choice. If, on the other hand, you want to host the APIs within the Apigee platform, you will want to use Apigee Integrations. Bear in mind that with both approaches, the APIs can be hosted either on-premises or in the cloud. There are a few reasons why you might want to choose to host the API within the Apigee platform. First, if the API is very data-intensive, it might be difficult to scale the API if it is hosted externally. This could become an issue as the API becomes more widely used. In this scenario, hosting the API within the Apigee platform would allow you to better control its performance. Hosting the API within the Apigee platform also allows you to use API management features, such as API key management and API throttling. Another reason to choose Apigee Integrations is to simplify the architecture. If the API is also hosted within the Apigee platform, there will be less complexity in the overall architecture.

Complexity of the integration If the integration is relatively simple, you might be able to use Apigee External Callout Policies. If the integration is more complex, you are much more likely to want to use Apigee Integrations. One thing to keep in mind is that since Apigee External Callout Policies are external to the Apigee platform, you will need to deploy the APIs to a different server. This means that you will need to take the scalability and reliability issues into account. With Apigee Integrations, you can run the APIs on the same server as the Apigee platform. Apigee External Callout Policies are designed for simple use cases. For example, if you want to call out to an existing database endpoint, you can use External Callout Policies if the data is stored in a database. If the data is stored in a file that can be accessed via HTTP, you can also use External Callout Policies.

Scalability and reliability of the integration The architecture determines whether scalability and reliability are a concern. If you use Apigee Integrations, the APIs are hosted within the Apigee platform. This means that the scalability and reliability aspects are managed by the Apigee platform, which is more likely to provide more consistent performance than an external service. If you use Apigee External Callout Policies and the APIs are hosted externally, you will need to consider scalability and reliability issues. For example, if the APIs are hosted on an Amazon Web Services (AWS) server, you will need to make sure that the server can handle the load. If the APIs are hosted on an AWS server, it might also be useful to use a managed service such as Amazon API Gateway, which can provide scalability and reliability.

Pros and Cons of Apigee Integrations Pros - With Apigee Integrations, the APIs are hosted within the Apigee platform, so they are easily accessible by the other components of the product. This also makes it easier to integrate with the rest of the platform. Furthermore, if the APIs are hosted on the same server as the rest of the platform, there will be less complexity in the architecture. Finally, if the platform experiences issues, the APIs will be affected as well. Cons - One disadvantage of using Apigee Integrations is that it is not as straightforward to use an existing RESTful API. This is because the APIs need to be integrated into the Apigee platform, and this requires some development work. What to consider - If you want to integrate with existing APIs that are already RESTful, you will likely want to use Apigee External Callout Policies. By contrast, if you want to integrate with an existing database, you will probably want to use Apigee Integrations.

Pros and Cons of Apigee External Callout Policy Pros - With Apigee External Callout Policies, you can call out to any existing RESTful or database endpoint. Furthermore, using External Callout Policies allows you to select from a wide range of hosting options, including AWS and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Cons - Additionally, the APIs are hosted externally, so it is necessary to take scalability and reliability issues into account. What to consider - If you want to integrate with an existing API that does not support encryption, you will want to use Apigee External Callout Policies.

Factors to Consider When deciding between Apigee Integrations and Apigee External Callout Policies, keep the following considerations in mind. First, if your architecture dictates that you use Apigee External Callout Policies, this is the better approach. Second, if the integration is relatively simple, you might be able to use External Callout Policies. Third, if you want to integrate with an existing API that does not support encryption, you will need to use External Callout Policies. And finally, if the API is very data-intensive and needs to be hosted on a server with a large amount of RAM and CPU, you will want to use Apigee Integrations.