Deploying Microservices with Service Mesh on Kubernetes using Terraform

Project Overview

In this project, we will deploy microservices in a Kubernetes cluster using a service mesh (Istio or Linkerd) for service discovery, traffic management, and security. Terraform will be used for infrastructure automation, ensuring a reproducible and scalable deployment.

Technology Stack

• Infrastructure Provisioning: Terraform
• Container Orchestration: Kubernetes (EKS/GKE/AKS or self-hosted)
• Service Mesh: Istio / Linkerd
• CI/CD Pipeline: Jenkins / GitHub Actions / ArgoCD
• Containerization: Docker
• Monitoring & Logging: Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger (for tracing)
• Load Balancer & Ingress: Istio Gateway / Nginx
• Storage: Amazon RDS / PostgreSQL / MySQL
• Security: mTLS (Istio), Kubernetes RBAC, IAM roles

Project Architecture

1. Infrastructure Setup
   • Use Terraform to provision a Kubernetes cluster (EKS, GKE, AKS).
   • Deploy Istio or Linkerd as a service mesh.
   • Set up IAM roles and RBAC for security.
2. Microservices Development
   • Implement multiple containerized microservices (e.g., User Service, Order Service, Payment Service).
   • Services communicate using gRPC or REST.
   • Store data in PostgreSQL/MySQL.
3. Service Mesh Integration
   • Install Istio/Linkerd using Terraform and Helm.
   • Enable automatic sidecar injection.
   • Implement traffic control with virtual services and destination rules.
4. CI/CD Pipeline
   • Automate builds using Jenkins/GitHub Actions/ArgoCD.
   • Deploy services to Kubernetes using Helm or Kustomize.
5. Traffic Management & Load Balancing
   • Implement Istio Ingress Gateway.
   • Route traffic using VirtualService and DestinationRule.
6. Observability & Monitoring
   • Prometheus & Grafana for metrics.
   • Jaeger for distributed tracing.
   • Kibana/ELK Stack for logs.
7. Security & Access Control
   • Implement mTLS for service-to-service communication.
   • Use JWT authentication & OAuth2.
   • Apply RBAC policies.

Step-by-Step Implementation Plan

Step 1: Provision Kubernetes Cluster with Terraform

• Use Terraform to create an EKS (AWS), GKE (Google), or AKS (Azure) cluster.
• Deploy worker nodes with auto-scaling groups.
• Configure IAM roles & security groups.

Step 2: Deploy Istio/Linkerd as a Service Mesh

• Install Istio using Helm charts.
• Enable sidecar injection for automatic proxying.
• Deploy Istio Gateway, VirtualService, DestinationRule.

Step 3: Develop and Deploy Microservices

• Create Dockerized microservices (User, Order, Payment).
• Build Kubernetes manifests or Helm charts.
• Deploy microservices with Kubernetes.

Step 4: Implement CI/CD Pipeline

• Automate Docker image builds with Jenkins/GitHub Actions.
• Deploy using ArgoCD for GitOps.

Step 5: Configure Service Mesh Features

• Enable traffic splitting, retries, and circuit breaking.
• Secure services with mTLS and RBAC policies.

Step 6: Implement Observability

• Configure Prometheus & Grafana for monitoring.
• Enable Jaeger for distributed tracing.
• Set up log aggregation with ELK.

Step 7: Test and Optimize

• Perform load testing.
• Monitor service behavior and adjust traffic policies.

Project Deliverables

• ✔ Terraform scripts for infrastructure
• ✔ Kubernetes manifests for microservices
• ✔ Helm charts for Istio deployment
• ✔ CI/CD pipeline configuration
• ✔ Service mesh traffic management rules
• ✔ Monitoring & logging setup