# Setup for consuming external web APIs from internal app

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setup-for-consuming-external-web-apis-from-internal-app/243063>\
**Category:** NGINX\
**Created:** [August 19, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setup-for-consuming-external-web-apis-from-internal-app/243063 "2015-08-19T11:58:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rafa\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/958977/32.png) [@Rafa\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Rafa_F)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setup-for-consuming-external-web-apis-from-internal-app/243063/1 "2015-08-19T11:58:27Z")

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Hi NGinx users,

Not sure if this is off topic.

Need help on what would be the recommended setup/architecture for  
consuming  
external web apis (e.g. twitter, Facebook APIs) securely from an  
application deployed in an internal network. And how NGINX can augment  
in  
this use case.

This is what I have in mind but I’m not sure if this is a supported  
setup  
of nginx.

InternalAPP --\> (DMZ) NGINX -\> external web api.

Appreciate any advise 🙂

Regards,  
Chino

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**Author:** ![Chino\_Aureus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@Chino\_Aureus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Chino_Aureus)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setup-for-consuming-external-web-apis-from-internal-app/243063/2 "2015-08-19T19:48:45Z")

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Hi Chino,

Could you please explain your architecture in more detail? So far it  
looks  
like you’re protecting the Internet from your application, and not vice  
versa.  
AFAIK, most API don’t do callbacks, so you don’t need to expose your app  
to  
the outside callers. Simply permit outgoing connections in your  
firewall.

On Wednesday, August 19, 2015 05:57:34 PM Chino Aureus wrote:

> of nginx.
> 
> InternalAPP → (DMZ) NGINX → external web api.
> 
> Appreciate any advise 🙂
> 
> Regards,  
> Chino  
> –  
> Best regards,  
> Styopa S..

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**Author:** ![Chino\_Aureus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@Chino\_Aureus](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Chino_Aureus)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/setup-for-consuming-external-web-apis-from-internal-app/243063/3 "2015-08-19T20:14:28Z")

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Hi,  
On 08/19/2015 11:57 AM, Chino Aureus wrote:

> This is what I have in mind but I’m not sure if this is a supported  
> setup of nginx.
> 
> InternalAPP → (DMZ) NGINX → external web api.
> 
> Appreciate any advise 🙂

If you’re trying to limit your application calls to outside, ex. let’s  
say your app can connect only to:

[api.google.com](http://api.google.com)

or

[api.facebook.com](http://api.facebook.com)

this seems more a job for a forwar proxy, typically squid.

> Regards,  
> Chino

Frederik