.NET Architecture & System Design Interview Question #136
What is rate limiting?
Resilience, Rate Limiting, Health Checks & Observability Senior Advanced
Quick Interview Answer
Rate limiting controls how many requests or operations are accepted during a period or under a concurrency limit. It protects services from overload, abusive clients, accidental loops, and expensive traffic spikes.
Detailed Explanation
Rate limiting controls how many requests or operations are accepted during a period or under a concurrency limit. It protects services from overload, abusive clients, accidental loops, and expensive traffic spikes.
Limits can be global, per user, per API key, per tenant, or per endpoint. A good design also communicates rejection clearly, commonly with HTTP 429 and retry guidance when appropriate.
Code Example
Client -> Rate Limiter -> API
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limit exceeded
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HTTP 429