Istio Reviews

Name: Istio
Brand: Isito
Rating: 4 (9 reviews)

Vendor: Isito

4.2 out of 5

9 reviews
100% willing to recommend

What is Istio?

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Intelligently control the flow of traffic and API calls between services, conduct a range of tests, and upgrade gradually with red/black deployments.

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Istio is the #1 ranked solution in top Service Mesh solutions. PeerSpot users give Istio an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. Istio is most commonly compared to VMware Tanzu Platform: Istio vs VMware Tanzu Platform. Istio is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 71% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 21% of all views.

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Featured reviews

PatrickHaggerty

Director of Google Cloud Learning at ROI Training

Istio is in the middle of a big evolution. We're about to go to a proxyless version of Istio. So Istio is about to drastically change the way it works. They've been talking about it for the last year or two, but they're just about to roll out their big shift, and they're going to move away from the Envoy proxy, which has been the cornerstone of Istio since its inception. So it'll be interesting to see how that works and the pros and cons that come with that. There's a certain amount of overhead that comes with Istio. So, if you're in really, really high-volume workloads, you might be concerned with the overhead that this middle layer adds. Because, Istio is essentially operating as a middle layer, and every communication goes from the origin to Istio to the destination, and maybe Istio on that end and then to the real destination. So you have a certain amount of overhead that Istio adds. I've seen applications where they had such strict time constraints, they couldn't use Istio because it was too much overhead. Now, again, the normal amount of overhead we're talking about here is fractions of a second. So it's not like it's a tremendous amount of overhead. But if you're doing it enough, that can add up. I think the biggest challenges with Istio are probably just learning how to use it properly. There's a lot of adjustments, a lot of knobs to tune. So you have to know how to configure it properly. And then, you also have to understand that it's giving you a lot of good benefits. But in addition to some configuration overhead, there's also going to be some performance overhead that Istio adds in, just not a lot. And it'll be interesting to see with the shift towards a proxyless version of Istio. I've seen a lot of changes recently in the way Kubernetes communicates internally. So as Kubernetes shifts towards a new data plane communication and as Istio shifts to keep up with that, it'll be interesting to see if Istio gets more performant or is it more important or less important as Kubernetes continues to evolve?

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Redentor Del Rosario

Sr. Solution Architect at Civatech Solutions

We can implement load balancing to distribute traffic across multiple service instances. Istio also offers traffic routing capabilities and circuit-breaking functionality. For security, it handles authentication using mutual TLS (mTLS) between services. It can authorize services using JWT tokens. Istio also allows defining policies for rate limiting to control traffic within services. I use network collection to see error rates and resource utilization. Prometheus is a popular monitoring system I use for queries. I also use distributed tracing. For logging, I centralize and capture logs from all services. I've used Splunk for log analysis and querying. With Splunk, I can create command-line queries to search and index large amounts of data in enterprise environments. This allows me to monitor user behavior, like detecting unusual data transfers (e.g., downloads or uploads over 20-25 MB) that could indicate potential security issues. I can create automated queries to capture and analyze user activities across different locations and systems. This helps identify any concerning or "underground" behavior that could harm the company. The observability features let me automate the monitoring of the entire system and get insights into service and user activities. Integration is generally possible with different systems, but understanding the specific components is needed. For example, integrating Splunk with AWS may require agents, plugins, or APIs. You have to research and understand these requirements. I had a project using Okta for identity and access management with a SaaS application. We faced challenges connecting it to the browser using SAML protocol. We didn't initially realize we needed PKI. This shows how you need to understand all the "ingredients" or components required for integration.

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PRABHAT_MISHRA

Senior Devops Engineer at LEAD School

Since it was an authentic application, we were handling the payments part. It was easy to debug, and Service A communicated to Service B. There were approximately 20 microservices inside the service mesh. Using Istio's observability feature, we could easily find out where the service was breaking, which saved us a lot of time. I would recommend the solution to other users. If you want to save time on the security application coding, move to Istio. It's a very helpful tool for debugging if you're working with microservices. The solution is also helpful for any service break and traffic management. Overall, I rate Istio a nine out of ten.

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Istio mindshare

As of November 2024, the mindshare of Istio in the Service Mesh category stands at 21.9%, down from 22.8% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Service Mesh

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Sep 9, 2024

Valuable Features

The load balancing, traffic management, mutual TLS for secure communication, telemetry, tracing with Jaeger, and easy implementation are valuable features. It excels in monitoring, saving time in network troubleshooting, and aiding authentication with JWT tokens. Users leverage observability tools like Prometheus and Splunk for extensive monitoring, centralized logging, and analysis. Integration with various systems is possible but requires understanding specific components. Service Discovery and Sidecar injection further enhance security and functionality.

"Istio makes all that much easier - traffic splits, percentage traffic splits, doing some sort of chaos testing to see how it works."
"We can implement load balancing to distribute traffic across multiple service instances. Istio also offers traffic routing capabilities and circuit-breaking functionality. For security, it handles authentication using mutual TLS (mTLS) between services. It can authorize services using JWT tokens. Istio also allows defining policies for rate limiting to control traffic within services."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

Room for Improvement

Istio's setup and documentation need improvement and are considered complex and time-consuming. Security features are restrictive, and technical support could be better. Compatibility issues with Kubernetes have caused significant disruptions. More community forums are needed. Knowledge of Kubernetes, networking, and traffic flow is essential for effective use. Performance and scalability issues exist, with recent fixes improving some aspects.

"I've seen applications where they had such strict time constraints, they couldn't use Istio because it was too much overhead."
"Based on my experience, the solution could be improved. They could simplify the learning process so that users can understand how its features work together, especially with components like Kibana. Learning about the different components is necessary. For instance, you need to understand the traffic flow, potential bottlenecks, and the architecture within Istio."
"Istio has issues with performance."

ROI

Istio significantly enhanced organizational efficiency by streamlining Kubernetes deployments and managing microservices. Users reported reduced latency and improved security. Time to market decreased as Istio provided comprehensive traffic management and observability. Running costs were cut due to optimized service mesh configurations.

Pricing

Istio offers a flexible pricing model based on enterprise needs, frequently deemed cost-effective by enterprises adopting it. Services include support, training, and advanced features, with detailed pricing varying by deployment scale. Users often find value in its robust features for traffic management, security, and observability, noting it delivers a strong return on investment despite potential initial complexity in implementation.

"We use the tool's open-source version, so there are no hidden fees or additional costs associated with it."
"You can deploy Istio free of cost and don't need to pay for it."
"It is on the less expensive side. It provides a significant saving for us in terms of cost and other things. It is open-source. We just download it from the open-source framework and use it."

Popular Use Cases

Users primarily utilize Istio to manage traffic flow within microservices architectures, serving as a service mesh and load balancer. It connects services, enhances security, and handles complex code for traffic management. Istio is especially beneficial for Kubernetes deployments, helping with routing, telemetry, service discovery, and enabling mTLS connections. It simplifies multi-cluster environments, manages large-scale applications, and supports custom functionalities like Envoy filters and API gateways.

Service and Support

Customers note mixed experiences with Istio's support. Some praise online resources and community forums for self-help, while others find the technical support lacking. Certain users provide internal support and technical evaluations extensively. Collaborations with engineers and contributors at Solo.io highlight the expertise and responsiveness of Istio's team.

Deployment

Initial setup experiences with Istio vary widely. Some found it straightforward, especially using command-line tools and Helm charts, while others found it complex and time-consuming with extensive debugging. Ease of setup often depended on familiarity with Kubernetes and command-line interfaces. Istio's configurability meant simple setups were quick, but larger use cases required detailed configurations. Training and understanding of Istio's features were crucial. Implementations involved design phases, intensive onboarding, and optimization, often taking significant time and effort.

Scalability

Istio is recognized for its scalability, successfully managing substantial internal traffic and load balancing. It's praised by DevOps teams and operates smoothly with Kubernetes clusters. While some note room for enhancement and occasional challenges with scaling mechanisms, it generally handles significant user loads effectively. Adoption is growing in various sectors, including defense, with positive experiences regarding scalability. Users highlight implementation convenience and efficient load management, leading to high satisfaction ratings.

Stability

Istio is consistently stable, handling moderate traffic well. Users rate its stability between seven and ten out of ten. While potential issues and bugs may occur, especially in larger implementations, users find Istio reliable with few major issues over extended periods. Access to upstream engineers aids in quick issue resolution. Users feel confident using Istio in production environments.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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