Kong Multi-Region Setup

Introduction

When building global applications, ensuring your API infrastructure is resilient, performant, and compliant with geographic data regulations becomes crucial. Kong, a popular API gateway, can be deployed across multiple geographic regions to address these needs. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up Kong in a multi-region architecture, explaining the benefits, challenges, and implementation steps.

Multi-region deployments help you:

Reduce latency for global users
Improve disaster recovery capabilities
Meet data sovereignty requirements
Enhance system reliability

Prerequisites

Before setting up a multi-region Kong deployment, make sure you have:

Experience with basic Kong configuration
Access to cloud infrastructure in multiple regions
Basic understanding of networking concepts
Familiarity with container orchestration (like Kubernetes) or VM management

Understanding Multi-Region Architecture

In a multi-region Kong setup, you'll deploy Kong instances across different geographic locations, with each region capable of handling API traffic independently while maintaining synchronization.

Core Components

A multi-region Kong setup consists of:

Kong Gateway Clusters: Independent Kong deployments in each region
Database Backend: Either:
- Centralized database with read replicas
- Independent databases with synchronization
Global Load Balancer: Directs traffic to the nearest healthy region
Configuration Management: System to ensure consistent configuration across regions

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Database Strategy Selection

Choose one of the following approaches:

Option A: Centralized Database with Replicas

bash
# Example for PostgreSQL setup with read replicas
# Primary DB setup in Region 1
pg_basebackup -h primary.db -D /var/lib/postgresql/data -U replication -W -P

# Configure kong.conf to use the appropriate DB in each region
# Region 1 (primary)
pg_host = primary.db.example.com
pg_port = 5432

# Region 2 (read replica)
pg_host = replica.eu.db.example.com
pg_port = 5432

Option B: Decentralized Database with Kong Vitals

bash
# Configure kong.conf for independent databases
# Region 1
pg_host = us-west.db.example.com
pg_port = 5432

# Region 2
pg_host = eu-central.db.example.com
pg_port = 5432

# Enable Kong Vitals for synchronization
vitals = on
vitals_strategy = prometheus
vitals_statsd_udp_address = metrics.example.com:8125

Step 2: Kong Cluster Setup in Each Region

bash
# Example Kubernetes deployment for Region 1 (US-West)
$ kubectl create namespace kong-us-west
$ helm install kong-us-west kong/kong \
  --namespace kong-us-west \
  --set env.pg_host=us-west.db.example.com \
  --set env.pg_password=<PASSWORD> \
  --set env.pg_user=kong \
  --set env.pg_database=kong \
  --set env.proxy_access_log=/dev/stdout \
  --set env.proxy_error_log=/dev/stderr \
  --set ingressController.installCRDs=false

# Repeat for other regions with appropriate configuration

Step 3: Configure Global Load Balancer

Most cloud providers offer global load balancing solutions:

yaml
# Example AWS Global Accelerator configuration
Resources:
  GlobalAccelerator:
    Type: AWS::GlobalAccelerator::Accelerator
    Properties:
      Name: kong-global-accelerator
      Enabled: true
  
  Listener:
    Type: AWS::GlobalAccelerator::Listener
    Properties:
      AcceleratorArn: !Ref GlobalAccelerator
      PortRanges:
        - FromPort: 80
          ToPort: 80
        - FromPort: 443
          ToPort: 443
      Protocol: TCP
  
  EndpointGroup1:
    Type: AWS::GlobalAccelerator::EndpointGroup
    Properties:
      ListenerArn: !Ref Listener
      EndpointGroupRegion: us-west-2
      EndpointConfigurations:
        - EndpointId: nlb-us-west-2
          Weight: 100
  
  EndpointGroup2:
    Type: AWS::GlobalAccelerator::EndpointGroup
    Properties:
      ListenerArn: !Ref Listener
      EndpointGroupRegion: eu-central-1
      EndpointConfigurations:
        - EndpointId: nlb-eu-central-1
          Weight: 100

Step 4: Synchronize Kong Configuration

For consistent API configurations across regions, use one of these approaches:

Option A: Declarative Configuration (recommended)

yaml
# kong.yaml - Declarative configuration file
_format_version: "2.1"
_transform: true

services:
  - name: example-service
    url: https://api.example.com
    plugins:
      - name: rate-limiting
        config:
          minute: 5
          policy: local
    routes:
      - name: example-route
        paths:
          - /example

Deploy using:

bash
# Push configuration to all regions
$ for region in us-west eu-central ap-southeast; do
    kubectl exec -it -n kong-$region deployment/kong-kong -- \
    kong config db_import /kong/declarative/kong.yaml
  done

Option B: Kong Decks (for CI/CD pipelines)

bash
# Install deck CLI
$ curl -sL https://github.com/kong/deck/releases/download/v1.13.0/deck_1.13.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar xz -C /tmp
$ sudo cp /tmp/deck /usr/local/bin/

# Export configuration from one region
$ deck dump --kong-addr http://kong-admin.us-west:8001 -o kong-config.yaml

# Sync to other regions
$ deck sync --kong-addr http://kong-admin.eu-central:8001 -s kong-config.yaml
$ deck sync --kong-addr http://kong-admin.ap-southeast:8001 -s kong-config.yaml

Step 5: Test Your Multi-Region Setup

Verify that your setup works by testing:

bash
# Test access through global load balancer
$ curl -i https://api-global.example.com/example

# Test direct access to each region
$ curl -i https://api-us-west.example.com/example
$ curl -i https://api-eu-central.example.com/example

Ensure the configuration is consistent by checking:

bash
$ for region in us-west eu-central ap-southeast; do
    curl -s http://kong-admin.$region:8001/services | jq '.data[].name'
  done

Challenges and Solutions

Data Consistency

Challenge: Ensuring all Kong instances have the same configuration.

Solution: Use declarative configuration with automated deployment pipelines.

bash
# Example CI/CD script (bash)
#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Generate Kong configuration
kong config init

# Validate configuration
kong config parse kong.yaml

# Deploy to all regions
for region in ${KONG_REGIONS}; do
  echo "Deploying to $region..."
  curl -X POST http://kong-admin.${region}:8001/config \
    -F config=@kong.yaml
done

Latency Between Regions

Challenge: High latency between regions can cause synchronization issues.

Solution: Use asynchronous updates and eventual consistency model.

yaml
# Kong configuration for better handling of latency issues
_format_version: "2.1"
_transform: true

plugins:
  - name: rate-limiting
    config:
      minute: 10
      policy: redis
      redis_host: redis.example.com
      redis_port: 6379
      redis_timeout: 2000
      redis_database: 0

Disaster Recovery

Challenge: Handling region failures gracefully.

Solution: Implement proper health checks and automatic failover.

bash
# Configure health checks for Kong instances
$ kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: kong-proxy
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: "kong"
    konghq.com/health-checks: "true"
    konghq.com/health-check-path: "/status"
    konghq.com/health-check-timeout: "5000"
    konghq.com/health-check-interval: "10000"
spec:
  rules:
  - http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: kong-proxy
            port:
              number: 80
EOF

Best Practices

Deploy in at least three regions for maximum availability
Automate everything including configuration, deployments, and testing
Monitor across regions with centralized observability
Test region failures regularly to ensure resilience
Implement progressive rollouts of configuration changes
Use canary deployments to validate changes in one region before global deployment

Example: Complete Multi-Region Setup for an E-commerce API

This example demonstrates setting up Kong for a global e-commerce platform with regions in the US, Europe, and Asia.

yaml
# kong.yaml - Complete configuration example
_format_version: "2.1"
_transform: true

# Upstream services in each region
upstreams:
  - name: product-service
    targets:
      - target: product-service.us-west.svc:8080
        tags: ["region:us-west"]
      - target: product-service.eu-central.svc:8080
        tags: ["region:eu-central"]
      - target: product-service.ap-southeast.svc:8080
        tags: ["region:ap-southeast"]

# Services and routes
services:
  - name: products-api
    url: http://product-service/
    routes:
      - name: product-list
        paths:
          - /products
        methods:
          - GET
      - name: product-detail
        paths:
          - /products/(?<id>\d+)
        methods:
          - GET
      - name: product-create
        paths:
          - /products
        methods:
          - POST
        plugins:
          - name: jwt
          - name: rate-limiting
            config:
              minute: 10
              policy: redis

# Global plugins
plugins:
  - name: cors
    config:
      origins:
        - "*.example.com"
      methods:
        - GET
        - POST
        - PUT
      headers:
        - Authorization
        - Content-Type
      credentials: true
      max_age: 3600
  
  - name: prometheus
    config:
      status_code_metrics: true
      latency_metrics: true
      upstream_health_metrics: true

Summary

Setting up Kong in a multi-region architecture provides significant benefits for global applications, including improved latency, disaster recovery, and geographic compliance. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a resilient API infrastructure that serves users worldwide with high performance and reliability.

The key components to remember are:

Database strategy (centralized or distributed)
Regional Kong clusters
Global load balancing
Configuration synchronization
Proper monitoring and testing

Additional Resources

Exercises

Set up a local multi-region Kong environment using Docker Compose with three separate networks simulating different regions.
Implement a CI/CD pipeline that automatically validates and deploys Kong configuration changes to all regions.
Create a disaster recovery plan for your Kong multi-region setup, including procedures for handling region outages.
Design a monitoring dashboard that provides visibility into Kong performance across all regions.
Implement a blue-green deployment strategy for Kong configurations that allows testing changes in one region before deploying globally.

If you spot any mistakes on this website, please let me know at [email protected]. I’d greatly appreciate your feedback! :)

Introduction​

Prerequisites​

Understanding Multi-Region Architecture​

Core Components​

Step-by-Step Implementation​

Step 1: Database Strategy Selection​

Option A: Centralized Database with Replicas​

Option B: Decentralized Database with Kong Vitals​

Step 2: Kong Cluster Setup in Each Region​

Step 3: Configure Global Load Balancer​

Step 4: Synchronize Kong Configuration​

Option A: Declarative Configuration (recommended)​

Option B: Kong Decks (for CI/CD pipelines)​

Step 5: Test Your Multi-Region Setup​

Challenges and Solutions​

Data Consistency​

Latency Between Regions​

Disaster Recovery​

Best Practices​

Example: Complete Multi-Region Setup for an E-commerce API​

Summary​

Additional Resources​

Exercises​