Rate Throttling

Rate throttling is a technique used to control the amount or frequency of requests, data transfers, or operations within a system over a specific period of time. It's commonly implemented in APIs, servers, scraping tools, and network services to prevent abuse, ensure fair usage, and protect system resources from being overwhelmed.

Also known as: Request throttling, traffic shaping, bandwidth throttling

Comparisons

• Rate Throttling vs. Rate Limiting: Rate limiting enforces a hard cap on the number of allowed operations, while throttling may delay or queue excess operations rather than rejecting them outright.
• Rate Throttling vs. Load Balancing: Throttling controls request frequency; load balancing distributes traffic across multiple resources for performance and reliability.

Pros

• Protects system stability: Prevents overload from high request volumes.

• Improves fairness: Ensures equal access to services for all users.

• Security enhancement: Helps mitigate DDoS attacks or abusive behavior.

Cons

• Can affect user experience: May slow down response times or delay access.
• Requires careful tuning: Misconfigured thresholds can lead to underutilization or denial of legitimate access.

Example

A public API may implement rate throttling by allowing only 100 requests per minute per IP address. If a client exceeds this rate, additional requests are either queued or delayed to fit within the allowed threshold—ensuring stable service for all users and preventing abuse from aggressive traffic patterns like uncontrolled web scraping.