Overview of Linkerd project and its features for Kubernetes service mesh
- Linkerd is a service mesh for Kubernetes that provides observability, reliability, and security
- Observability is achieved through sidecar proxies that monitor http, grpc, and tcp metrics
- Reliability features include grpc load balancing, connection level load balancing for tcp, and configurable retries and timeouts
- Security is provided through transparent mtls for pod-to-pod communication
- New features include Linguity SMI extension for managing SMI CRDs and adapters for generating linguistic primitives
- Future plans include taking advantage of the new Linux system I/O system called Iou ring for CPU improvements and FIPS 140-2 compliance systems
- Users can get involved through talks, meetups, weekly edge releases, and monthly community meetings
- Linkerd has a growing set of features that can be added on for traffic shifting and more
One of the top reasons for adopting Linkerd is for grpc load balancing, which eliminates the need to modify grpc clients to deal with request level load balancing. This feature has been particularly useful for those who have multiple languages or headers in their environment and don't want to cobble together visibility systems on top of their applications.