What is the term for controlling the number of requests a user can submit within a specified timeframe to ensure API availability?

Rate limiting is the term used to describe the practice of controlling the number of requests a user can submit within a specified timeframe to ensure API availability and protect the underlying system from overload. By implementing rate limiting, an organization can maintain a stable level of service, ensuring that no single user or application can monopolize the API resources, which could lead to degraded performance for all users.

Rate limiting can be set up in various ways, such as limiting the number of requests within a minute or an hour, ensuring that each user has fair access to the API. This is particularly important in cloud environments where applications might need to scale based on demand, allowing for better management of API usage and resource allocation.

Other concepts, such as traffic shaping, resource throttling, and request management, relate to managing network traffic or resources more broadly, but they do not specifically address the limitations imposed on the number of requests made by users in a specified timeframe, which is the primary focus of rate limiting.