In This Blog:
Application Program Interfaces (API) are behind just about everything that occurs within an application. Whether youʼre browsing to a website or an application is calling out to another application, itʼs typically via an API. With numerous APIs in place, you need a way to properly architect and visualize them for cloud, hybrid, and on-prem scenarios.
Enter Azure API Management.
In this blog post, youʼll learn what API management is at the 101 (beginner) level and get a few good ideas on how you can think about implementing it.
What is an API?
Have you ever wondered how youʼre able to access particular pages of a website? Or how different parts of an application are able to communicate with each other? Itʼs all done via an Application Program Interface (API). An API is an application's language, and they know how to communicate based on API endpoints.Letʼs take the below screenshot as an example to break down API endpoints. With the API below, there are a few different paths:
A path to see all workouts [ / workouts ].- A path to see workouts with a particular workout ID.
- A path to see all exercises.
The HTTP verb, or how you (or another application stack) would communicate
with the API is via a [ GET request ].
A [ GET ] request is one way to interact with an API endpoint, and its job is to receive information and not modify/edit the endpoint. Hereʼs a list of common endpoints that all developers should know. If the above API was live and at a particular endpoint, for example, michaelscoolfitness.com, then that means the [ /workouts ] [ GET ] request would be available here. Now that you know a bit about APIs, letʼs learn how youʼd manage them in Azure.
Azure API Management Breakdown
When it comes to cloud-based services, youʼll see several API management tools. In Azure, the service youʼd be looking for is Azure API Management. Azure API Management is a hub of sorts that allows you to manage, modify, and deploy APIs from Azure for any endpoint of your choosing.
Source: https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/api-management/import-and-publish
If youʼve already written APIs or have used API platforms in the past, you may be wondering, “why would I choose something like API Management over going straight to Swaggerˮ and the answer usually comes down to the extra services that you get while using an the Azure stack. Aside from managing APIs, you can also enable API discovery, securely expose backend and frontend apps, access a full test suite right from API Management, and deploy APIs to services like Azure Functions and Container Apps. You can also integrate with third-party tools like Salesforce by using OAuth integrators.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/api-management-keyconcepts
Best Practices
With an understanding of APIs and how API Management in Azure can be used, letʼs dive into some best practices when it comes to using API Management.
First, thereʼs security. Within Azure, API Management has built-in support for OpenAI Connect (OIDC), OAuth2.0, and Mutual TLS (mTLS). Authentication and authorization are, of course, drastically important, but another important aspect is incoming (ingress) and outgoing (egress) traffic. To ensure proper security for network traffic, you can set up an Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against the most common vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting attacks. The overall goal is to always ensure proper authentication and authorization along with allowing connections that are secure (like HTTPS).
Next, thereʼs cost and resource optimization. A major goal when it comes to performance and resource optimization is to build your APIs with scalability and performance in mind. Avoiding large volumes of traffic within hindered performances and long-running operations is key. It's very important to ensure that the API was built with performance in mind from the start. It's also advised to implement services like Azure App Insights and Azure Monitor to ensure that the API is performing as expected.
From a cost perspective, you can choose which pricing tier you want to implement when deploying API Management. The tiers range from a dev stack with no SLA to a premium stack with three 9ʼs.
Hereʼs a great checklist per the Azure docs for operational excellence.
Last but certainly not least from a best practices perspective is the overall configuration of Azure API Management. For configuration, there are three things you want to keep in mind:
- Ensure proper logging is configured with Azure Monitor.
- Set quotas and limits when exposing APIs to third-party services like Mulesoft as it can get quite expensive.
- Set proper firewall rules for both inbound and outbound connectivity.
From a deployment perspective, thereʼs an Azure API Management SDK, so you can absolutely manage it and deploy the actual service in an automated fashion using platforms/tools like Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) combined with CICD. However, for actually inputting the APIs to the Azure Management API service, it seems that a lot of engineers implement the APIs via the Azure UI.
Closing Thoughts
Managing APIs isnʼt easy. When you have a smaller application stack, it seems relatively straightforward. However, when youʼre dealing with thousands or millions of GET requests (and thatʼs just one API call), you need a way to properly manage the stack in one place. Azure API Management gives you one location to properly secure, manage, and deploy your API stack along with a place to receive information about how your API is performing.
FAQ
What is Azure API Management?
Azure API Management is a fully managed platform that allows organizations to publish, secure, transform, maintain, and monitor APIs across internal teams, partners, and external developers. It functions as a centralized gateway for APIs, giving teams a way to enforce policies, access analytics, and expose services securely regardless of where the APIs are hosted. Whether your backend is in Azure, on-premises, or across multiple clouds, API Management provides a unified front door for your services.
Why should I use API Management instead of deploying APIs directly?
Direct deployment of APIs is feasible for small projects, but as complexity grows, so do security, monitoring, and performance requirements. Azure API Management offers features like throttling, caching, detailed logging, authentication enforcement, and request transformation—all built in. It acts as a proxy that not only protects your services but also gives you visibility into how they are being used. These capabilities are critical for organizations scaling their digital operations or integrating multiple internal and external systems.
Can I use Azure API Management with APIs hosted outside of Azure?
Yes, Azure API Management supports hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. You can easily connect and manage APIs that reside in other public clouds, private datacenters, or even SaaS environments. By abstracting away where APIs are hosted, Azure API Management enables teams to adopt a consistent management model for all APIs, reducing operational complexity and maintaining a uniform developer experience.
What are some key security features in Azure API Management?
Security is built into every layer of Azure API Management. It supports industry-standard protocols like OAuth2.0 and OpenID Connect for secure authentication and authorization. You can implement mutual TLS (mTLS) for client certificate validation, and IP filtering and rate-limiting policies to prevent abuse. Integrations with Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) offer additional protection against common exploits such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. Combined, these features provide a robust security posture out of the box.
How do I monitor API usage in Azure?
Azure API Management integrates with Azure Monitor and Application Insights to provide real-time visibility into API performance, request volume, response times, and failure rates. These insights help teams identify bottlenecks, track usage patterns, and proactively address issues before they affect users. Custom dashboards can be built for stakeholder reporting, and automated alerts can be configured to flag anomalies in traffic or performance.
