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In this lesson we’ll cover two focused areas:
  • What a service mesh is and the core concepts behind it (traffic management, security, observability, and policy).
  • How Cilium implements service-mesh capabilities — the architecture, underlying technologies (notably eBPF), and the key features that make Cilium suited for modern microservices environments.
This lesson assumes familiarity with Kubernetes and basic networking concepts. If you’re new to Kubernetes, start with the Kubernetes Basics guide. For hands-on Cilium material, see the Cilium documentation.
What you’ll learn:
TopicWhy it mattersOutcome
Service mesh fundamentalsUnderstand the problems service meshes solve in microservice architecturesBe able to explain traffic control, mTLS, and observability concepts
Cilium architectureLearn how Cilium uses eBPF and integrates with proxiesUnderstand Cilium’s design tradeoffs and how it enforces policies
Key features & componentsCompare traffic management, security, and monitoring featuresKnow which Cilium components (e.g., Hubble, Envoy integration) are involved
Core concepts covered (brief):
  • Traffic management: routing, retries, circuit breaking, L7 vs L4 control.
  • Security: identity, mTLS, and authorization policies.
  • Observability: distributed tracing, flow visibility, metrics and logs.
  • Policy enforcement & performance: how kernel-level technologies improve policy performance.
Helpful references: In the sections that follow we’ll expand each concept and map it to Cilium’s components and architecture, so you can see both the theoretical and implementation sides of a service mesh.

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