The distinction between various types of APIs, particularly in communication and application enablement platforms, has become increasingly confusing. Understanding this dynamic is crucial for businesses aiming to leverage advanced networks; here, we will draw a comparison between Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) APIs and our own network APIs, examining how each programming interface can be effectively used to provide optimum performance and reliability on advanced network infrastructures.
The Fundamental Differences
At the core, CPaaS APIs and network APIs serve distinct purposes and are built upon different premises. CPaaS focuses on enabling communication services such as voice, messaging, and video over data networks using pre-built components. These platforms operate at the application layer, delivering a suite of communication tools without requiring deep network knowledge.
Conversely, Shabodi’s Network APIs, part of Shabodi’s network-aware Application Enablement Platform (AEP), are designed to connect applications to programmable networks. This improves the application’s performance by optimizing network attributes like bandwidth, jitter, Quality of Service (QoS), and latency, significantly enhancing user experience.
Bridging Applications and Networks: The Shabodi Approach
Shabodi’s network-aware AEP and supported APIs operate at the service layer, acting as a bridge between applications and networks. Connecting applications to network infrastructures requires a very deep understanding of network functions, security and transaction handling in order to ensure the network operates at peak efficiency. It also requires knowledge of applications, their development, and the outcomes they’re working towards – solving business problems. Shabodi provides abstracted network APIs that act on the network’s control plane1 to manipulate settings affecting the size and quality of the data plane2.
- The control plane – is a construct in network routing that not only defines the networking topology, but also allows the network to determine the treatment to be applied to packets to provide differentiated service. In other words, it provides the information to direct the data plane in sending packets through the network.
- The data plane – sometimes called the user plane – provides the network logic defining what to do with data packets from an inbound interface. In other words, it provides the primary interface delivering the networking payload.
Shabodi’s AEP shields applications from network complexities while enabling them to adjust the data plane to enrich user experiences and provide better business outcomes, regardless of the network traffic involved – communications, IIOT, AI/ML, or other.
CPaaS know little about the networks upon which its payload/sessions ride, unencumbered by the complexities of network security and transaction models to connect one entity to another using communication protocols such as SIP3. CPaaS establishes sessions, both long and short lived, to deliver tightly orchestrated communications payloads. It uses the data plane to deliver its communications packets, relying upon the data plane to be properly conditioned (by an external force) and having no knowledge of or ability to change the data plane for better performance. CPaaS relies upon the established network settings, most often using best effort for transmissions.
The primary communication methods used at Shabodi involve RESTful4 APIs and 3GPP network protocols, indicative of its deep network integration. In contrast, CPaaS relies on client-side and/or server-side SDKs, RESTful APIs, and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to establish communication services. This fundamental difference highlights how we position the network as a powerful programmable asset rather than just a pipe for communications transit.
Quality of Experience and Security: A Key Differentiator
Our focus extends beyond mere connectivity to encompass Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE). By controlling network attributes directly, we ensure (all) applications are not just network-aware but are also capable of dynamically adapting network conditions for optimal performance. This is a stark contrast to CPaaS APIs, where such detailed control over the network is not available, without exception, leading to a less optimized application performance, especially in environments where network conditions are highly variable.
Security is another domain where our approach differentiates itself. While both platforms utilize modern security protocols like OAuth for application security, we integrate Extended Authentication Protocols (EAPs) for network security, providing a more robust security stance that aligns with our concept of deep network integration. Shabodi’s AEP acts as a security bridge between the disparate application and network worlds, allowing each to interact with the other without security breaches or otherwise allowing nefarious acts to occur.
The Path Forward
In conclusion, while CPaaS APIs have revolutionized communication applications by simplifying the integration of messaging, voice, and video capabilities into applications, Shabodi’s network APIs represent a leap toward making applications truly network aware. This not only enhances the performance and reliability of applications across advanced networks but also heralds a new era where network conditions are no longer bottlenecks but facilitators of superior application experiences.
As we move towards more advanced and diverse network environments, the role of the network-aware AEP and its APIs will become increasingly central to optimizing future connected applications and networks.
Click here to download a recent report by Dean Bubley from Disruptive Analysis, commissioned by Shabodi. Discover how CPaas and Network APIs technologies coexist without converging, catering to different developer needs and technical requirements.
