Question 1

What's the difference between a Gateway and a Load Balancer?

Accepted Answer

A load balancer mainly distributes incoming traffic across multiple healthy backends (often within the same application tier) to improve availability and performance. A gateway is an entry point that can also enforce policies and translate or route traffic between different networks or services. For example, an API gateway can authenticate requests, apply rate limits, and route to different microservices, while a load balancer typically focuses on spreading traffic across instances of the same service.

Question 2

When should I use a Gateway?

Accepted Answer

Use an API gateway when you want one stable endpoint for many backend services and need features like authentication, authorization, throttling/rate limiting, request routing, and observability. Use a NAT gateway when private subnets need outbound internet access (for updates, calling external APIs) without allowing inbound connections from the internet. Use a VPN gateway when you need encrypted connectivity between on-premises networks and cloud networks. Use an internet gateway (or equivalent internet egress/ingress design) when resources must be reachable from the public internet.

Question 3

How much does a Gateway cost?

Accepted Answer

Costs depend on the gateway type and traffic. API gateways are commonly priced by number of requests, data transfer, and optional features (e.g., caching, custom domains, WAF integration). NAT gateways typically charge per hour (or per gateway) plus per-GB data processed, so high egress can become expensive. VPN gateways usually charge per hour per tunnel/gateway plus data transfer, and may add costs for additional connections or higher throughput SKUs. Internet gateway-style connectivity is often not billed as a standalone resource in some clouds, but you still pay for public IPs (where applicable) and data egress to the internet.

Gateway

Definition

Real-World Example

Related Terms

Cloud Provider Equivalencies

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