#Gateways

This documentation provides information about using gateways with Alauda Service Mesh.

A gateway is a dedicated Envoy proxy deployment paired with a Kubernetes Service, operating at the edge of the service mesh. It enables fine-grained control over traffic that enters or leaves the mesh.

In Alauda Service Mesh, you can install gateways in two ways:

• Gateway injection — Apply labels and annotations to Kubernetes Deployment and Service resources so the Istio control plane injects and configures the gateway proxy. See Gateway installation.
• Kubernetes Gateway API — Deploy gateways declaratively with Kubernetes Gateway API resources.

The supported gateway configuration depends on the deployment mode:

• Sidecar mode — Configure gateways with Istio Gateway and VirtualService resources, or with Kubernetes Gateway API resources.
• Ambient mode — Configure gateways with Kubernetes Gateway API resources.

After installing a gateway, you configure it to manage traffic at the mesh edge. Both installation methods support directing traffic in either direction:

• Ingress — Route external traffic into the mesh. See Directing Traffic into the Mesh.
• Egress — Route traffic from the mesh to external services. See Directing Outbound Traffic.