Limit of requests per hour

Question

How to limit requests per hour from one IP address, like on Twitter? For example, I want to provide 100 requests per hour. Is there a solution? Apache Modules? Thanks.

Answer 1

Getting started is easy.

• Use the concept of API keys (let's say its guid is mapped to a domain or account).
• Every time your API hits, and increment its corresponding counter.
• Write rules for restrictions based on your counter (in this case, the clock)
• Reset

IP blocking is not recommended. NAT is a problem

Answer 2

Do not do this over IP. People from an entire university, company or internet cafe can use the same IP address. It is best if you enter a cookie with a random value in the first HTTP response for each client to identify uniqueness.