input: 
  def create_rest_api():
      """Generate a basic REST API with authentication and endpoints using Flask.
      >>> app = create_rest_api()
      >>> app.run(port=5000, debug=True)
      # Output: The server starts running on port 5000 with the REST API endpoints available.
      """
  
output:     
      from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
      from flask_httpauth import HTTPBasicAuth
  
      app = Flask(__name__)
      auth = HTTPBasicAuth()
  
      users = {
          "user1": "password1",
          "user2": "password2"
      }
  
      @auth.verify_password
      def verify_password(username, password):
          if username in users and users[username] == password:
              return username
  
      @app.route('/api/resource', methods=['GET'])
      @auth.login_required
      def get_resource():
          return jsonify({"message": "This is a protected resource"})
  
      @app.route('/api/resource', methods=['POST'])
      @auth.login_required
      def post_resource():
          data = request.get_json()
          return jsonify({"message": "Resource created", "data": data})
  
      return app
  