mirror of https://github.com/hashicorp/consul
58 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
58 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
|
---
|
||
|
|
layout: intro
|
||
|
|
page_title: Consul vs. Envoy and Other Proxies
|
||
|
|
sidebar_title: 'Envoy and Other Proxies'
|
||
|
|
sidebar_current: vs-other-proxies
|
||
|
|
description: >-
|
||
|
|
Modern service proxies provide high-level service routing, authentication,
|
||
|
|
telemetry, and more for microservice and cloud environments. Envoy is a
|
||
|
|
popular and feature rich proxy. This page describes how Consul relates to
|
||
|
|
proxies such as Envoy.
|
||
|
|
---
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
# Consul vs. Envoy and Other Proxies
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Modern service proxies provide high-level service routing, authentication,
|
||
|
|
telemetry, and more for microservice and cloud environments. Envoy is
|
||
|
|
a popular and feature-rich proxy that is often
|
||
|
|
used on its own. Consul [integrates with Envoy](https://www.consul.io/docs/connect/proxies/envoy.html) to simplify its configuration.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Proxies require a rich set of configuration to operate since backend
|
||
|
|
addresses, frontend listeners, routes, filters, telemetry shipping, and
|
||
|
|
more must all be configured. Further, a modern infrastructure contains
|
||
|
|
many proxies, often one proxy per service as proxies are deployed in
|
||
|
|
a "sidecar" model next to a service. Therefore, a primary challenge of
|
||
|
|
proxies is the configuration sprawl and orchestration.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Proxies form what is referred to as the "data plane": the pathway which
|
||
|
|
data travels for network connections. Above this is the "control plane"
|
||
|
|
which provides the rules and configuration for the data plane. Proxies
|
||
|
|
typically integrate with outside solutions to provide the control plane.
|
||
|
|
For example, Envoy integrates with Consul to dynamically populate
|
||
|
|
service backend addresses.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Consul is a control plane solution. The service catalog serves as a registry
|
||
|
|
for services and their addresses and can be used to route traffic for proxies.
|
||
|
|
The Connect feature of Consul provides the TLS certificates and service
|
||
|
|
access graph, but still requires a proxy to exist in the data path. As a
|
||
|
|
control plane, Consul integrates with many data plane solutions including
|
||
|
|
Envoy, HAProxy, Nginx, and more.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The [Consul Envoy integration](https://www.consul.io/docs/connect/proxies/envoy.html)
|
||
|
|
is currently the primary way to utilize advanced layer 7 features provided
|
||
|
|
by Consul. In addition to Envoy, Consul enables
|
||
|
|
third party proxies to integrate with Connect and provide the data
|
||
|
|
plane with Consul operating as the control plane.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Proxies provide excellent solutions to layer 7 concerns such as path-based
|
||
|
|
routing, tracing and telemetry, and more. By supporting a pluggable data plane model, the right proxy can be
|
||
|
|
deployed as needed.
|
||
|
|
For performance-critical applications or those
|
||
|
|
that utilize layer 7 functionality, Envoy can be used. For non-performance critical layer 4 applications, you can use Consul's [built-in proxy](https://www.consul.io/docs/connect/proxies/built-in.html) for convenience.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
For some applications that may require hardware, a hardware load balancer
|
||
|
|
such as an F5 appliance may be deployed. Consul encourages this use of the right
|
||
|
|
proxy for the scenario and treats hardware load balancers as swappable components that can be run
|
||
|
|
alongside other proxies, assuming they integrate with the [necessary APIs](https://www.consul.io/docs/connect/proxies/integrate.html)
|
||
|
|
for Connect.
|