The Apache Knox Gateway is a REST API gateway that authenticates users and acts as a single access point for a Hadoop cluster.
Knox creates a perimeter around a Hadoop cluster. Without Knox, users and applications must connect directly to a resource in the cluster, which requires configuration on the client machines. A direct connection to resources exposes host names and ports to all users and applications and decreases the security of the cluster.
If the cluster uses Knox, applications use REST APIs and JDBC/ODBC over HTTP to connect to Knox. Knox authenticates the user and connects to a resource.