Explore the world of service mesh technology using an unexpected source: the humble banana. While bananas may seem unrelated to the world of cloud-native networking, we will discover they possess unique qualities paralleling the benefits of a service mesh.

We’ll explore topics like: • Bananas are widely available, just as there are multiple open-source mesh alternatives. • Bananas secure their own fruit. A mesh enables zero-trust architectures. • Banana health is color-coded and easy to understand. Mesh observability is key. • Bananas are not messy. No code changes are required for mesh adoption. • Bananas are improving. Like new heartier strains, mesh communities continually innovate. We’ll conclude with a demonstration of Istio Ambient Mesh, a recent addition to the open-source project.

Attendees will leave with an understanding of the basic principles of service mesh, plus insights into what’s coming next, and perhaps fresh appreciation for the banana’s “ap-peel”.