Technology · Ebook

Kmesh: The Kernel-Native Service Mesh

by Shriira Press

Kmesh is a high-performance, sidecarless service mesh data plane built on eBPF and the programmable Linux kernel. Where traditional meshes intercept every connection with a per-pod proxy, Kmesh sinks traffic governance into the kernel itself, removing the proxy hops that add latency and the processes that consume memory and CPU. This book starts with the sidecar problem and the eBPF foundations that make a kernel-native alternative possible, then walks through Kmesh's architecture, its Kernel-Native and Dual-Engine modes, its xDS integration with the Istio control plane, the data path and sockmap acceleration, L4 and L7 governance, security and observability, and how to adopt and operate it in practice.

Contents

1. 1Preface
2. 2Chapter 1 — The Sidecar Problem and the Kernel-Native Answer
3. 3Chapter 2 — eBPF and the Programmable Kernel
4. 4Chapter 3 — Kmesh Architecture
5. 5Chapter 4 — Two Modes: Kernel-Native and Dual-Engine
6. 6Chapter 5 — Working with the Istio Control Plane
7. 7Chapter 6 — The Data Path and Sockmap Acceleration
8. 8Chapter 7 — L4 and L7 Traffic Governance
9. 9Chapter 8 — Security and Observability
10. 10Chapter 9 — Kmesh in Practice