ROUVY and Tyk
ROUVY is using Tyk’s open source API gateway for secure, reliable authorization mechanisms and OpenTelemetry observability that scales with the business as it grows.
Who is ROUVY?
ROUVY is an indoor cycling app that lets customers ride real routes around the world virtually. Combining sport and technology, it is the go-to platform for a realistic and immersive video experience. ROUVY users have over 1,300 routes around the globe to choose from, meaning they can train, have fun and explore the world from the comfort of their homes.
Why did ROUVY need an API gateway?
Cloud-native business ROUVY needed a lightweight API gateway for handling client authorization and blocking problematic requests. They initially deployed a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) API gateway to handle all their traffic. While things started out well, three years down the line ROUVY found the gateway no longer matched their expectations, needs or budget.
“Our technical needs were evolving but our GCP gateway wasn’t supporting that,” explains Stanislav Gurník, ROUVY’s Backends Chapter Lead. “It had become increasingly hard to maintain. Limited capabilities – including only one authentication per endpoint, no cost optimizations and the API definition being just one OS2 file – meant we had to develop complicated workarounds to achieve what we needed. The gateway’s observability was also too simple to meet our evolving needs.”
When it became evident that Google Cloud was deprecating the gateway, the ROUVY team saw an opportunity for change. Stanislav continues:
“Our GCP gateway was no longer suitable, while GCP’s suggested replacement solution didn’t have the features we needed at an affordable price. It didn’t make sense to move to that, so we began looking for something new. That’s when we discovered Tyk.”
Why Tyk?
“We need an API gateway that delivers on three fronts: authorization, observability and price,” recalls ROUVY CTO Matúš Kocka. “Tyk was in the running from the outset, as was another gateway provider. We gave serious consideration to both, but ultimately it was Tyk’s out-of-the-box offering that worked for us. We needed a gateway that would work with Firebase and with Tyk that’s part of the standard offering. The other provider we looked at could work with Firebase too, but it would have meant paying for their enterprise edition – even though we wouldn’t have used any of the other enterprise features. That just didn’t make sense, financially.”
Tyk ticked all the right features boxes, so the ROUVY team performance-tested the gateway internally. Tyk passed the performance testing with flying colors.
ROUVY was not averse to paying for an API gateway solution but only if it met the business’ use case. Their GCP API gateway had resulted in spiraling costs due to ROUVY’s increasing number of requests. Replacing it with GCP’s proposed solution would also be expensive, while that gateway’s focus on monetisation wasn’t a feature from which ROUVY would derive any benefit. As Matúš succinctly sums up:
“We needed something simple, affordable, and good – that’s why we went with Tyk.”
How is ROUVY working with Tyk?
ROUVY is using the replacement of its deprecated GCP gateway as an opportunity to revamp its infrastructure to introduce multiple points of communication. The business’ consumers include internal clients, partners and third-party integrations, with Tyk serving as a gateway to the ROUVY infrastructure.
The configuration of Tyk Gateway ran smoothly for ROUVY’s cloud-native business. It took eight days in total to get everything configured and up and running, including integration with Kubernetes, the gateway configuration and implementing OpenTelemetry observability. Backends Chapter Lead Stanislav recalls:
“We figured out the configuration without needing any input from the Tyk team. We used a couple of community forums to read about others’ experiences of implementing Tyk but didn’t feel the need to ask any questions. It all went smoothly.”
ROUVY is using Tyk as the gateway for its backend for frontend pattern. The ROUVY app calls their Kubernetes application, which sends all the requests to the gateway and onwards to ROUVY’s microservices. This is enabling ROUVY to introduce infrastructure without it impacting their release cycles; they can change the backend whenever they want without users having to update their apps. They can also fix things and add in new features without having to issue a new release, effectively introducing features with zero downtime.
As observability was important to ROUVY, they also integrated Tyk with Datadog to obtain a full map of their infrastructure. There were a couple of technical knots to work out relating to Datadog headers, but the team overcame them, and the integration is now delivering precisely what the ROUVY team needs.
With Tyk in place, ROUVY is happily creating several new endpoints and services each quarter. Previously, with just one definition file for all endpoints with the GCP gateway, ROUVY was dealing with a wide range of technical headaches. Having only one definition file was stifling innovation and making everything more complicated. It meant developers had to make a lot of manual changes every time they wanted to create or change an API, introducing plenty of scope for mistakes in production. Now, with Tyk, ROUVY can manage configurations through code repositories as part of its CI/CD pipelines.
“It was increasingly challenging to do things properly with our old gateway solution,” comments Stanislav. “Tyk has revolutionized that. With Tyk Gateway in place, we are operating more efficiently, we can innovate faster, we’ve optimized our costs, and our developers are happier.”
How is ROUVY benefitting from using Tyk?
With Tyk in place, ROUVY can deliver secure, reliable services to its global user base. By getting rid of the complicated technical baggage associated with its previous GCP gateway solution, the business has now freed up time to focus on expanding its service offering. Enhanced observability also means that ROUVY is well placed to make sound data-driven decisions.
“Everything is easier now,” confirms ROUVY CTO Matúš Kocka. “We needed an API gateway solution that was easy to use and deploy. One that was secure, performance-oriented, had built-in observability and would support Firebase authentication at a reasonable price. Tyk is delivering everything we need.”
ROUVY is now enjoying lower traffic costs and a significantly improved developer experience, thanks to the overall infrastructure enhancement that Tyk has delivered. The business is also able to get its expanded product offering to market faster.
What’s next for ROUVY and Tyk?
In addition to its two deployed APIs, ROUVY is in the process of creating a third API for its internal tooling. Looking ahead, the company will be creating new services for its customers and integrating more third-party providers, ensuring that customers can share their data across the devices and services they use. ROUVY will also be creating an API for its non-technical partners, such as race organizers who need data about user numbers, timings and so on.
Observability plays into these future plans too, with ROUVY keen to understand how users engage with the new features it rolls out.
“We are focused on enhancing the user experience in a range of ways,” explains CTO Matúš. “It’s not about monetization but about growing our product and offering even greater value than we already do.”
As ROUVY is growing rapidly, the company needs to ensure scalability. That means optimizing its endpoints to ensure they’re not too chatty and protecting the backend with caching through Tyk Gateway. With both seasonal and intense daily peaks, it is essential that the business be able to scale without killing the backend.
“We’ve gone from one million requests per month to 21 million,” reports Backends Chapter Lead Stanislav. “We had a single issue with an infinite loop that we needed to fix but Tyk’s API gateway solved that beautifully. We’re planning for between 50 and 70 requests per minute during the winter. Tyk is enabling us to scale up to that easily.”
