Multi-Cluster (Cluster Mesh)

Cluster mesh extends the networking datapath across multiple clusters. It allows endpoints in all connected clusters to communicate while providing full policy enforcement. Load-balancing is available via Kubernetes annotations.

See Setting up Cluster Mesh for instructions on how to set up cluster mesh.

KVStoreMesh

KVStoreMesh is an extension of Cluster Mesh. It caches the information obtained from the remote clusters in a local kvstore (such as etcd), to which all local Cilium agents connect. This is different from vanilla Cluster Mesh, where each agent directly pulls the information from the remote clusters. KVStoreMesh enables improved scalability and isolation.

Note

Starting from v1.16 KVStoreMesh is enabled by default. If you wish to disable it, please refer to Enable Cluster Mesh for instructions on how to disable KVStoreMesh.