May 2, 2019 By SHAO JUN DING 2 min read

Istio and managing microservices

More and more users have moved to microservices architecture for their applications, and this brings challenges as to how to manage these microservices efficiently. Istio is an open technology that provides a way to connect, secure, control, and observe networks of different microservices, regardless of platform, source, or vendor.

Istio relies heavily on the Kubernetes service registry and discovery. It will, by default, manage all services running on Kubernetes clusters. The reality is that a lot of users are depending on some framework for their microservices development and service registry and discovery. Spring Cloud and Apache Dubbo are two typical examples. These services might also be running outside of Kubernetes clusters. In that scenario, how can they move to the Istio service mesh without modifying their code and deployment model? In this post, I will share a solution.

Implement an MCP server and plug it into Istio

Starting from Istio 1.0, it has supported MCP (Mesh Configuration Protocol) for configuration distribution. This opens the door for easily integrating external systems. We can implement an MCP server by ourselves and easily plug it into Istio. This MCP server provides two major functions:

  • Connect and monitor the external service registry system to get the latest service info (e.g., Eureka Server in Spring Cloud and Zookeeper for Apache Dubbo).
  • Convert the external service info into Istio ServiceEntry and publish it through MCP resources.

The only thing you need to change from the Istio side is to add this MCP server address into the Istio config map. The following is a snippet for the sample configuration change:

configSources:     – address: istio-galley.istio-system.svc:9901     – address: 9.119.56.229:9902

The following diagram shows architecture for the solution:

So what are the key points when implementing an MCP server?

MCP server

An implementation for an MCP server is actually in Istio Galley, meaning we can reference it and implement our own MCP server. The key takeaways I want to highlight are as follow:

  • Define the resource collection we want to monitor in our MCP server. In our case, we are monitoring all Istio supported collections:
coptions := source.CollectionOptionsFromSlice(metadata.Types.Collections())
  • Define a Watcher for the MCP server which will set the MCP resources dynamically.
  • Define other server options (e.g., rate limit,  AuthChecker, etc.).

Move to Istio without any code or deployment model changes

By defining our own MCP server, we allow users to move to the Istio service mesh without any code and deployment model changes. This means we can easily use Istio to control, observe, connect, and secure services running outside Kubernetes clusters.

Learn more

 

Was this article helpful?
YesNo

More from Cloud

Attention new clients: exciting financial incentives for VMware Cloud Foundation on IBM Cloud

4 min read - New client specials: Get up to 50% off when you commit to a 1- or 3-year term contract on new VCF-as-a-Service offerings, plus an additional value of up to USD 200K in credits through 30 June 2025 when you migrate your VMware workloads to IBM Cloud®.1 Low starting prices: On-demand VCF-as-a-Service deployments begin under USD 200 per month.2 The IBM Cloud benefit: See the potential for a 201%3 return on investment (ROI) over 3 years with reduced downtime, cost and…

24 IBM offerings winning TrustRadius 2024 Top Rated Awards

2 min read - TrustRadius is a buyer intelligence platform for business technology. Comprehensive product information, in-depth customer insights and peer conversations enable buyers to make confident decisions. “Earning a Top Rated Award means the vendor has excellent customer satisfaction and proven credibility. It’s based entirely on reviews and customer sentiment,” said Becky Susko, TrustRadius, Marketing Program Manager of Awards. Top Rated Awards have to be earned: Gain 10+ new reviews in the past 12 months Earn a trScore of 7.5 or higher from…

IBM Tech Now: April 8, 2024

< 1 min read - ​Welcome IBM Tech Now, our video web series featuring the latest and greatest news and announcements in the world of technology. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified every time a new IBM Tech Now video is published. IBM Tech Now: Episode 96 On this episode, we're covering the following topics: IBM Cloud Logs A collaboration with IBM watsonx.ai and Anaconda IBM offerings in the G2 Spring Reports Stay plugged in You can check out the…

IBM Newsletters

Get our newsletters and topic updates that deliver the latest thought leadership and insights on emerging trends.
Subscribe now More newsletters