Rate limiting

Rate limiting is a system design strategy that helps protect services from being overwhelmed by too many requests from a single user or client.

Rate limiting algorithms

• Token bucket: Allows bursts of traffic within overall rate limit.
• Leaky bucket: Smooths traffic flow at constant rate.
• Fixed window counter: Limits requests in fixed time intervals.
• Sliding window log: Tracks requests within rolling time window.
• Sliding window counter: Smooths rate between adjacent fixed windows.