---
title: Istio
id: istio
date: 2018-04-12
full_link: https://istio.io/docs/concepts/what-is-istio/overview.html
short_description: >
  An open platform (not Kubernetes-specific) that provides a uniform way to integrate microservices, manage traffic flow, enforce policies, and aggregate telemetry data.

aka: 
tags:
- networking
- architecture
- extension
---
 An open platform (not Kubernetes-specific) that provides a uniform way to integrate microservices, manage traffic flow, enforce policies, and aggregate telemetry data.

<!--more--> 

Adding Istio does not require changing application code. It is a layer of infrastructure between a service and the network, which when combined with service deployments, is commonly referred to as a service mesh. Istio's control plane abstracts away the underlying cluster management platform, which may be Kubernetes, Mesosphere, etc.