We tried to tune apigee with ulimit, pool value etc.
considering you mention ulimit and other linux-level variables, you’re using OPDK Apigee.
I would start with 2 questions.
Are you comfortable with single request processing time?
Yes, I hear you, Layer 7 smaller topology footprint is twice performant. Still, what’s the single request latency?
Apigee is horizontally scalable therefore by adding Routers and MPs you should be able to identify required number of MPs to achieve your performance target.
Another factor is proxy complexity and usage of objects like caches, KVMs, etc. To tune the performance, we need now to identify bottlenecks, understand them, and remove them.
I am aware about customers having 40k+ TPS sustained rate at their OPDK topologies. Therefore, the product has no inherent constraints. But its usage patterns definitely differ.