Open Service Mesh (OSM)
A lightweight and extensible cloud native service mesh.
Overview
Open Service Mesh (OSM) is a simple, lightweight, and extensible service mesh for Kubernetes. Backed by the CNCF and built on Envoy, OSM implements the Service Mesh Interface (SMI) specification to ensure a standard API experience. It provides core service mesh functionality like securing inter-service communication with mTLS, managing access control policies, and providing application observability.
✨ Key Features
- Lightweight and simple
- Strictly implements SMI specification
- Automated mTLS with short-lived certificates
- Fine-grained access control policies
- Application observability and insights
- Easy to install and manage
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Strict adherence to the SMI specification, promoting interoperability
- Simplicity and ease of understanding
- Backed by the CNCF and Microsoft
- Native add-on for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Unique Value: Provides a simple, lightweight, and SMI-compliant service mesh for Kubernetes.
🎯 Use Cases (3)
✅ Best For
- Service mesh for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) via the AKS add-on
- Environments where adherence to SMI standards is a primary requirement
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Users needing advanced, non-SMI features
- Deployments outside of Kubernetes
🏆 Alternatives
Focuses on being a reference implementation of SMI, making it less feature-rich than Linkerd or Istio, but ensuring a standard, portable configuration for core mesh functionalities.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
💰 Pricing
Free tier: Open Service Mesh is open source and free to use.
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