Istio on IBM Cloud

Connect, secure, control and observe microservices at scale

Try it at no charge
A geometric pattern of interlocking white, gray, and blue shapes creates a striking three-dimensional illusion

Overview

Easy path to Kubernetes

Istio is an open technology that provides a way for developers to seamlessly connect, manage and secure networks of different microservices — regardless of platform, source or vendor. Istio is currently one of the fastest-growing open source projects based on Github contributors, and its strength is its community. IBM is proud to be a founder and contributor of the Istio project and a leader of Istio Working Groups.

Features

Key features and capabilities

A single click runs Istio core components and tracing, monitoring and visualization tools.

Young businesswoman working on a computer while sitting at a desk with other colleagues

IBM Cloud updates all Istio components and manages the control-plane components lifecycle.

VFX Digitally Generated Background with Virtual Social Media Reality Interconnected by Internet Into Worldwide Web. Internet of Things Conce

Istio runs ideally with IBM Cloud® Log Analysis and IBM Cloud® Monitoring.

Man using a laptop and mouse with a overlay of a cloud and a lock

Istio on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is offered as a managed add-on that integrates Istio directly with your Kubernetes cluster. A single click deploys a tuned, production-ready Istio instance on your IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service cluster.

Portrait of a developer using laptop to write code sitting at desk with multiple screens

Use cases

Use cases for Istio on IBM Cloud

Safer releases with progressive delivery

Roll out application updates with confidence using canary deployments and traffic splitting. Gradually shift traffic between service versions to validate performance and reduce risk in production.
Zero-trust security for microservices

Secure all service-to-service communication with built-in encryption and identity-based access controls. Enforce consistent policies across your environment without modifying application code.
End-to-end observability

Gain real-time visibility into service interactions, performance, and dependencies. Monitor traffic patterns and quickly troubleshoot issues with built-in telemetry and tracing.
Intelligent traffic management & resilience

Control how traffic flows between services with advanced routing, load balancing, and fault handling. Improve application reliability with retries, circuit breaking, and failure recovery.

Resources

Get certified

A–Z: Containers and Kubernetes

Set up and deploy an application; scale and update applications with IBM Watson® services.

 Microservices with Istio

Learn how 12-factor method, microservices and Istio work in IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.

 Beyond the basics

Install Istio beside microservices as Guestbook mock application; deploy it to a cluster.

 Istio Explained

Getting started with Service Mesh
Take the next step

Get started for free on IBM Cloud and get access to more than 40 always-free products.

  1. Create your free account