January 2019 Summaries

API Fortress is a continuous testing platform that utilizes Kong to facilitate API virtualization, a crucial component in the growing API economy driven by microservice architectures and DevOps practices. As companies strive for faster innovation through Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), automated testing, including API mocking, becomes essential. API Fortress addresses this need by enabling early test development, cost savings on paid API calls, and efficient bug detection through mocking. The platform simplifies mocking by allowing users to easily create mocks from live API calls, with Kong intercepting and capturing API payloads to automate this process. The setup involves configuring Kong as a proxy server, creating proxied endpoints, and utilizing API Fortress's mocking capabilities. This integration with Kong allows users to record and query mock APIs effectively, enhancing development workflows and software quality. API Fortress offers a 30-day trial for its on-premises version, demonstrating the synergy with Kong and participation in its community.

Kong is a user-friendly tool that facilitates the quick setup of routing requests by starting an instance, configuring a service, and setting up a route to the service, with the option to enable various plugins. Beyond basic routing, Kong offers advanced capabilities such as load balancing through upstreams and targets, multiple hashing modes, health checks, circuit breakers, and enhanced routing control via plugins. These features were highlighted in a presentation at the Kong Summit, where attendees could learn about the extensive routing functionalities available. The Summit also offered opportunities to sign up for updates and watch related presentations, encouraging participation in future events.

Jason Walker discusses how Cargill is leveraging the API gateway Kong as part of their internal API platform, Capricorn, to transform their legacy architecture with a "Cloud first, but not always" strategy. At the Kong Summit 2018, Walker explains how Kong enables his small team to manage decentralized deployments while adhering to Cargill’s architectural principles, such as maintaining discrete controls over continuous deployment. He highlights the importance of Kong in routing traffic within Cargill's Kubernetes cluster and supporting Cargill’s digital transformation efforts, which include deploying innovative technologies like drones for remote agricultural operations. Cargill aims to nourish the world responsibly and sustainably, enhancing efficiency and scalability through digital platforms, including a data platform for analytics and a cloud platform for infrastructure services. The API platform, Capricorn, is designed to be flexible, provider-agnostic, and supportive of continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) practices, while promoting developer autonomy and system-wide observability. Cargill's strategy involves not just using Kong for cloud-based deployments but also preparing for potential on-premises applications, guided by a long-term vision of decentralizing deployments to empower individual application teams.