Grab的服务网格演变：从Consul到Istio

Picture this: It’s 2024, and Grab’s microservices ecosystem is thriving with over 1000 services running in different infrastructure. But behind the scenes, our service mesh setup is showing its age. We’re running Consul with a fallback mechanism called Catcher - a setup that has served us well but is starting to feel like wearing a winter coat in Singapore’s heat.

想象一下：现在是2024年，Grab的微服务生态系统蓬勃发展，超过1000个服务在不同的基础设施中运行。但在幕后，我们的服务网格设置显得有些过时。我们正在运行Consul，并使用一种名为Catcher的回退机制——这种设置曾经为我们提供了良好的服务，但现在开始感觉像是在新加坡的炎热中穿着冬季外套。

The challenges we faced were becoming increasingly apparent. A single Consul server issue could trigger a fleet-wide impact, affecting critical services like food delivery and ride-hailing. Our fallback solution, while necessary, added complexity and limited our ability to implement advanced features like circuit breaking and retry policies. As we expanded our presence across Southeast Asia, the need for robust multi-cluster support became more critical than ever. The existing setup struggled with modern requirements like advanced traffic management and fine-grained security controls, while the growing complexity of our microservices architecture demanded better traffic management capabilities.

我们面临的挑战变得越来越明显。单个 Consul 服务器的问题可能会引发全舰队的影响，影响到食品配送和打车等关键服务。我们的后备解决方案虽然必要，但增加了复杂性，并限制了我们实施电路断路和重试策略等高级功能的能力。随着我们在东南亚的影响力扩大，对强大多集群支持的需求变得比以往任何时候都更加重要。现有的设置在现代需求如高级流量管理和细粒度安全控制方面显得力不从心，而我们微服务架构日益增长的复杂性则要求更好的流量管理能力。

The complexity of Grab’s infrastructure

Grab 基础设施的复杂性

Our infrastructure landscape is as diverse as the Southeast Asian markets we serve. We operate a complex hybrid environment encompassing services on traditional VMs and EKS clusters with diverse infrastructure provisioning and deployment approaches. This diversity isn’t merely about deployment models—it’s about meeting the unique needs of different business units and regulatory requirements across the region.

我们的基础设施格局与我们服务的东南亚市场一样多样化。我们运营着一个复杂的混合环境，包括在传统虚拟机和EKS集群上的服务，采用多样的基础设施供应和部署方法。这种多样性不仅仅是关于部署模型——它是关于满足不同业务单位和区域内监管要求的独特需求。

The complexity doesn’t stop ...