What is Google Zanzibar?

Google Zanzibar is an authorization system described in a white paper by Google, designed to handle the complex authorization needs of Google's vast ecosystem of applications, which include B2B, B2C, and advertising platforms. Unlike traditional systems based on Access Control Lists (ACLs) or Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Zanzibar uses a graph-based approach to model permissions, allowing for fine-grained and scalable Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC). This system addresses the challenges of unifying identities across multiple services and scaling to handle over 10 million authorization requests per second without compromising performance or security. While Zanzibar provides a sophisticated solution for managing permissions, it can be resource-intensive and complex to implement, often requiring reliance on hosted services and posing challenges in integration with existing policy systems like RBAC or Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC). Tools like Permit.io simplify the integration of Zanzibar by combining it with other access control models through SDKs and no-code interfaces, facilitating the management of hierarchical and relational permissions. Despite its advantages, Zanzibar may not be suitable for all scenarios, particularly those requiring extensive attribute-based rules, but it excels in situations where implicit hierarchy analysis and fine-grained permissions are necessary.

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