Istio Service Mesh in a nutshell

This article summarizes the presentation by György Boros from our Kubernetes webinar last year.

From Service Mesh to Istio

A Service Mesh is a specialized infrastructure layer designed to enable communication between various microservices. This communication is controlled and monitored using proxies.

Istio, an open-source platform created in 2017 by Google, IBM, and Lyft, provides an excellent solution to the challenges of service meshes, particularly in areas like:

• Monitoring
• Traffic control
• Security
• Split testing
• Canary development

György introduced the two main components of the Istio architecture: the data plane and the control plane, explaining their respective functions. The data plane's primary component is the Envoy proxy, deployed alongside containers in a Kubernetes pod. After installation, containers use this proxy to communicate with each other or the outside world.

The control plane serves as a configuration distributor. György delved deeper into this aspect, outlining the roles of its three key components.

Installing Istio and its benefits

György provided a simple example to illustrate how data queries between two containers are significantly more advanced with Istio. The installation process for Istio is straightforward; in four steps, he outlined the key considerations. Using code snippets, he demonstrated the tasks and outcomes post-installation, with a focus on the Envoy proxy.

Key advantages of Istio:

• As a powerful and sophisticated service mesh platform, Istio integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes.
• With proper monitoring configurations, issues can be diagnosed without digging through code.
• It aligns the efforts of developers and DevOps engineers perfectly, enhancing collaboration and efficiency.

Click the video below to watch the full presentation! 👇