---
title: Gateway model
description: In the gateway model, traffic is initially directed to a PingAccess node, and PingAccess grants or denies access directly. The application in PingAccess is configured with the site as the destination.
component: pingaccess
version: 8.3
page_id: pingaccess:introduction_to_pingaccess:pa_gateway_model
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingaccess/8.3/introduction_to_pingaccess/pa_gateway_model.html
revdate: May 8, 2024
section_ids:
  what-is-the-gateway-model: What is the gateway model?
  pros: Pros
  cons: Cons
---

# Gateway model

## What is the gateway model?

In the gateway model, traffic is initially directed to a PingAccess node, and PingAccess grants or denies access directly. The application in PingAccess is configured with the site as the destination.

## Pros

* Less cross-team coordination required — You can implement and maintain a gateway deployment with less coordination with application teams because the PingAccess infrastructure is installed on separate systems from the web servers.

* Simpler setup — Because the PingAccess nodes are the only required components, this deployment model can be set up more quickly than the other models.

* Simpler upgrade — The only components you must upgrade in a gateway deployment are the PingAccess nodes.

  |   |                                                                           |
  | - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
  |   | You can upgrade PingAccess with zero downtime in a clustered environment. |

* Simpler troubleshooting — Issues are easier to isolate because there are fewer components sharing a system with the PingAccess infrastructure.

* Simpler logging — All transactions that PingAccess processes are audited by the engine node, making it easier to view logs for a specific event.

## Cons

* Network impact — Using the gateway deployment model requires that you restructure your existing network to route traffic through PingAccess.

* Additional network overhead — The overhead of an additional network hop can theoretically exceed a latency budget. This rarely happens in practice, and the agent model often makes a similar addition to latency, but this might occur in some environments.