Throttling and Rate Limiting

Throttling and Rate Limiting 

 **Throttling** and **Rate Limiting** (or **Limit Checks**) are both techniques used in APIs and web services to control the amount of incoming traffic and prevent overload. Although they serve a similar purpose, they are different concepts:

### Throttling:

**Throttling** is a broader term that encompasses various techniques for controlling the rate of traffic flow, including rate limiting. Throttling can be applied not only to limit the number of requests but also to manage other resources such as bandwidth, CPU usage, or memory consumption. Throttling is often used in scenarios where the server or service needs to maintain a specific quality of service by preventing overuse of resources. It can be dynamic and change based on the server load or other conditions.

**Examples of Throttling:**

- **Request Rate Throttling:** Limiting the number of API requests per minute.

- **Bandwidth Throttling:** Limiting the amount of data that can be transferred per second.

- **CPU Throttling:** Limiting the CPU usage of a process or application.

### Rate Limiting (or Limit Checks):

**Rate Limiting**, or **Limit Checks**, is a specific form of throttling that restricts the number of requests a client can make to an API within a specific timeframe. It's a way to prevent abuse, protect the server from being overwhelmed, and ensure fair usage among consumers. Rate limits are often static and do not change dynamically based on server load; they are typically set as a fixed number of requests per second, minute, or hour.

**Examples of Rate Limiting:**

- **10,000 requests per hour per API key.**

- **100 requests per minute per user.**

- **1 request per second per IP address.**

In summary, throttling is a broader concept that encompasses various techniques for controlling resource usage, while rate limiting (or limit checks) specifically refers to restricting the number of requests made to an API within a specified timeframe. Rate limiting is a form of throttling used to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage of services. Throttling can include rate limiting but can also involve controlling other resources such as bandwidth, CPU, or memory.