Istio vs fabric8: What are the differences?

1. Control Plane: Istio primarily focuses on managing microservices traffic by providing a control plane that helps in implementing various traffic management techniques like load balancing, routing, and traffic shifting. On the other hand, fabric8 focuses on enhancing the development process by providing tools for building, testing, and deploying applications.

2. Supported Platforms: Istio is more tightly integrated with Kubernetes and is widely used in Kubernetes environments for managing microservices communication. Fabric8, on the other hand, provides support for a wider range of platforms beyond just Kubernetes, including OpenShift, Docker, and other container platforms.

3. Monitoring and Observability: Istio comes with built-in support for monitoring and observability features like distributed tracing, monitoring dashboards, and telemetry data collection. Fabric8 also offers monitoring capabilities, but it is more focused on developer experience and providing insights into the development lifecycle.

4. Service Mesh Implementation: Istio is known for its robust service mesh implementation that provides advanced features like mutual TLS authentication, fault injection, and circuit breaking for microservices. Fabric8, while offering some service mesh functionalities, is more oriented towards simplifying the development and deployment processes for applications.

5. Community Support: Istio has a strong community backing, with contributions and support from major tech companies like Google, IBM, and Lyft. Fabric8, as an open-source project under the Fabric8.io community, also has an active community support, but it is relatively smaller compared to Istio.

6. Customization and Extensibility: Istio provides a high level of customization and extensibility through its rich set of APIs, allowing users to tailor their microservices communication policies and configurations. Fabric8, while offering some level of customization, is more opinionated in its approach and provides predefined patterns and workflows for application development.

In Summary, Istio focuses on managing microservices traffic with a strong emphasis on Kubernetes environments, while fabric8 is more oriented towards enhancing the development experience across various platforms beyond just Kubernetes.