Service mesh tools are used to add monitoring and security functionality to cloud-native applications. A service mesh is implemented at the platform layer rather than the application layer and uses network proxies to facilitate communication between microservices. With the incredibly complex nature of modern cloud-native, microservices-based applications, service mesh provides flexible end-to-end protection.
Service mesh tools operate on two levels, the control plane and the data plane. The control plane coordinates the behavior of network proxies while the data plane monitors communication between services. The administrator can then use an API to change the service mesh or retrieve data from the mesh as a whole.
Companies use service mesh to secure cloud-native applications because of the myriad moving parts in any modern application. These application components can consist of thousands of varying instances, containers and APIs. As a result, service mesh tools are often used in tandem with container management software, container orchestration software, container networking software, and service discovery software.
To qualify for inclusion in the Service Mesh Tools category, a product must:
Protect microservices at the platform level
Utilize network proxies to secure service-to-service communication
Monitor and control communications between cloud services