Istio overview in Microservices - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Istio in the context of microservices?

Istio is a service mesh that helps manage, secure, and observe microservices communication without changing the application code.

intermediate

Name the three main components of Istio.

The three main components are Envoy (sidecar proxy), Pilot (traffic management), and Mixer (policy and telemetry).

intermediate

How does Istio improve security in microservices?

Istio provides secure communication by automatically encrypting traffic between services using mutual TLS and managing authentication and authorization policies.

beginner

What role does the Envoy proxy play in Istio?

Envoy acts as a sidecar proxy that intercepts all network traffic between microservices to enforce policies, collect telemetry, and manage traffic.

beginner

Why is Istio considered 'transparent' to application code?

Because Istio manages communication through sidecar proxies, applications do not need to change their code to benefit from Istio features.

What is the primary purpose of Istio?

A Manage microservices communication

B Store microservices data

C Develop microservices code

D Replace Kubernetes

Istio manages communication between microservices, improving security, traffic control, and observability.

Which Istio component handles traffic routing and configuration?

A Mixer

B Citadel

C Envoy

D Pilot

Pilot manages traffic routing and configuration in Istio.

How does Istio secure service-to-service communication?

A By using mutual TLS encryption

B By disabling network traffic

C By rewriting application code

D By using VPN tunnels

Istio uses mutual TLS to encrypt and secure communication between services.

What is the role of the Envoy proxy in Istio?

A Database management

B Sidecar proxy for traffic interception

C User interface rendering

D Code compilation

Envoy runs as a sidecar proxy to intercept and manage traffic between microservices.

Why do applications not need code changes to use Istio?

A Istio replaces the application code

B Istio only works with specific programming languages

C Istio uses sidecar proxies to handle communication

D Istio compiles the code automatically

Istio uses sidecar proxies to manage communication, so applications remain unchanged.

Explain what Istio is and how it helps manage microservices communication.

Think about how Istio sits alongside microservices to control their interactions.

Describe the main components of Istio and their roles.

Focus on what each component does in the service mesh.