AdvancedTechnical
5 min

Service Mesh Trade-offs

Service MeshNetworkingObservability
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Interview Question

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of adopting a service mesh (e.g., Istio, Linkerd) in production.

Key Points to Cover
  • Pros: traffic shaping, mTLS, retries, observability
  • Cons: added complexity, latency overhead, operational cost
  • When justified: complex microservices environments needing policy enforcement
Evaluation Rubric
Clearly outlines benefits30% weight
Acknowledges drawbacks30% weight
Explains when adoption makes sense20% weight
Considers operational complexity20% weight
Hints
  • 💡Think mTLS, retries, and sidecar overhead.
Potential Follow-up Questions
  • How do you compare service mesh vs API gateway?
  • What are alternatives?
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