With the release of IBM API Connect v10.0.10.0 on IBM Power, enterprises can take full advantage of the performance, resilience, and scalability of the Power platform for API lifecycle management.
In this blog, we will walk through what this enablement means, highlight the key components supported on Power, explain the split deployment architecture with IBM DataPower Gateway on amd64 platform, and talk about the two data center disaster recovery feature on Power.
IBM Cloud Pak for Integration
IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is a hybrid integration platform that provides a comprehensive set of integration tools within a single, unified experience to connect applications and data across any cloud or on-premises environment.
IBM API Connect
At the heart of Cloud Pak for Integration API management capabilities lies IBM API Connect, a comprehensive solution for designing, developing, managing, securing, monetizing, analyzing, and socializing various kinds of APIs.
IBM API Connect on IBM Power
Following the successful initial release of API Connect v10.0.9.0 for IBM Power (ppc64le) with Cloud Pak for Integration v16.1.1, we are proud to announce the next step forward: the availability of API Connect v10.0.10.0 on Power, delivered together with Cloud Pak for Integration v16.1.2.
API Connect on Power
API Connect v10.0.10.0 on Power is made up of three main components:
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API Manager is the central component of API Connect, where developers design, publish, and manage APIs. API Manager enables complete lifecycle management, including versioning, deprecation, and retirement of APIs, giving organizations full control over their API ecosystem. By porting API Manager to IBM Power, we enable seamless administration and monitoring directly on the Power platform.
Figure 1: API Manager home screen
Figure 2: API Manager Products screen
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Developer Portal of IBM API Connect acts as the bridge between API providers and consumers. It allows you to have an integrated web-based platform where application developers and API consumers can discover, explore, socialize, and subscribe to your APIs.
Figure 3: Developer Portal
After a Developer Portal is enabled through the API Manager and API Products are published, application developers can explore and utilize the available APIs.
Figure 4: Developer Portal
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The Analytics component of IBM API Connect allows you to monitor your API usage by providing the capability to filter, sort, and aggregate your API event data. This data is then presented within correlated charts, tables, and maps to help you manage service levels, set rate limits, establish controls, set up security policies, manage communities, and analyze trends.
Figure 5: API Manager Analytics screen
Split architecture
The API Manager, Developer Portal, and Analytics components are deployed on a OpenShift Container Platform cluster on IBM Power, while the Gateway continues to run on the amd64 infrastructure.
In this setup, all supported components are deployed on a Power cluster, with the Gateway hosted on a separate amd64 cluster. Connecting the two API Connect instances is straightforward, thanks to well-documented procedures.
Installing Gateway in a separate cluster is common in API Connect production environments because Gateway often operates independently from other components.
Deployment via Platform UI
After the prerequisites including Platform UI are installed according to the Cloud Pak for Integration documentation, it is then fairly easy to instantiate an API Connect cluster of a sample configuration using the Cloud Pak for Integration Platform UI as seen in Figure 6.
Figure 6: IBM Cloud Pak for Integration
Two data center disaster recovery
We are happy to announce that with the v10.0.10.0 release, API Connect on Power now supports the highly requested 2DCDR feature!
When using the 2DCDR high availability feature, in normal operation, one data center handles live traffic while the other remains synchronized and ready, ensuring seamless switching when needed, without any data loss.
A failover, whether triggered by planned maintenance or unplanned outages, is executed to promote the standby to active and demote the original site.
Conclusion
By deploying API Connect v10.0.10.0 on Red Hat OpenShift on Power, enterprises can leverage the robust performance and scalability of the Power platform for API lifecycle management.
With the newly enabled 2DCDR feature, they can also ensure high availability. API Connect on Power helps businesses achieve greater efficiency, governance, and gain insights into their API ecosystem.
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