Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Fully managed Kong Gateway SaaS on Konnect and AWS, with live demo (DOP222)

Summary

The session focused on the importance of APIs in the current digital transformation era, emphasizing that businesses are powered by APIs and that a clear API vision is crucial for success.
The speaker highlighted the need for developer-friendly API creation, a robust API gateway for lifecycle management, and a service mesh for microservice-oriented applications.
Kong's API platform was introduced, which includes Insomniac for developer experience, Kong Gateway for API management, and Kong Mesh for service mesh, all managed through Konnect, a single pane of glass for API infrastructure.
The new offering, Dedicated Cloud Gateways on Konnect, was announced, which allows for one-click global provisioning of Kong Gateway in a dedicated cloud environment.
Two modes of operation for Dedicated Cloud Gateways were discussed: autopilot SaaS for automatic resource scaling and custom mode for more control over infrastructure.
The service includes private networking with Transit Gateway support, an edge global DNS for latency-based routing, and compatibility with hybrid Cloud Gateway for self-managed traffic.
A live demo showcased how to provision and manage a dedicated cloud gateway cluster, create services and routes, and apply plugins like rate limiting.
Attendees were invited to sign up for Konnect for free using a QR code to explore the capabilities of Kong Gateway and Service Mesh.

The transition to an API-centric world requires businesses to have a comprehensive API strategy that includes developer empowerment, API lifecycle management, and secure, observable service mesh infrastructure.
Kong's API platform aims to simplify the complexity of managing APIs by providing a unified control plane (Konnect) that integrates with AWS services.
The Dedicated Cloud Gateways on Konnect offering is designed to reduce costs and complexity by providing a fully managed, scalable, and secure API gateway infrastructure that can be deployed globally with minimal effort.
The ability to choose between autopilot SaaS and custom modes provides flexibility for organizations to balance ease of use with control over their API infrastructure.
The integration of private networking and global DNS capabilities indicates a strong focus on security and performance, catering to the needs of enterprises with mission-critical API operations.
The live demo demonstrated the ease of use and practicality of the Konnect platform, potentially increasing its adoption among AWS users looking for a managed API gateway solution.
The free sign-up offer for Konnect could lead to increased experimentation and adoption of Kong's API management solutions within the AWS ecosystem.