Istio is the most widely used service mesh platform in the world for large-scale production deployments. In September 2022, Google and Solo.io announced the release of Istio Ambient Mesh to the community. Ambient offers a revolutionary data-plane architecture that allows service mesh users to ditch sidecars. It slashes operational complexity and enables incremental mesh adoption, all while reducing cost and computational overhead within a service mesh.
Injected sidecars can be replaced by two new components. First is a node-level zero-trust-tunnel (ztunnel) that provides mTLS and Layer-4 capabilities. A service-account-level proxy called a waypoint leverages Envoy to deliver Layer-7 capabilities.
This talk will help you understand both the why and how of Istio Ambient Mesh. It includes a demo showcasing the new capabilities, including on-boarding new services without sidecars and mixing Ambient with traditional sidecar-injected services. It will also provide pointers to further no-cost educational opportunities and user certification options.
Jim Barton is a Field Engineer for Solo.io whose enterprise software career spans 30 years. He has enjoyed roles as a project engineer, sales and consulting engineer, product development manager, and executive leader of tech startups. Prior to Solo, he spent a decade architecting, building and operating systems based on enterprise open-source technologies, at the likes of Red Hat, Amazon, and Zapp...