Overview

This document describes how to install Istio and perform benchmark tests on a Kunpeng server.

Istio is an open source service mesh that layers transparently onto existing distributed applications. It provides a uniform and efficient way to secure, connect, and monitor services. Deploying Istio on Kunpeng servers maximizes performance advantages of the Arm architecture and enables the use of Istio's powerful service governance to improve system observability, security, and stability. It is applicable to building high-performance, high-security, and high-scalability cloud native applications.

Istio is logically split into a data plane and a control plane. The data plane comprises a group of proxies that mediate and control all network communication between microservices. Most application requests are processed by the Istio data plane instead of the control plane. Therefore, the benchmark tests in this document focus on the data plane.

The Istio data plane supports two modes: sidecar and ambient. Istio has been built on the sidecar mode since its first release in 2017. The sidecar mode is easy to understand and has been thoroughly tested, but it incurs resource costs and operational overhead. It deploys an Envoy proxy as a sidecar in each pod started in the Kubernetes cluster. All proxies in the sidecar mode can process both Layer 4 and Layer 7 network traffic. This document focuses on the sidecar mode.

For more information about the sidecar and ambient modes, as well as Layer 4 and Layer 7 network traffic, see the Istio official website.