Envoy 1.29: Proxy Performance and HTTP/3 Enhancements

Introduction

Envoy 1.29, released on September 12, 2024, advances proxy capabilities with HTTP/3 improvements, WebAssembly enhancements, performance optimizations, and expanded protocol support. This release makes Envoy more powerful and efficient as the foundation for service meshes and API gateways.

HTTP/3 Improvements

• QUIC support enhancements provide better HTTP/3 performance and reliability.
• Connection management improvements optimize HTTP/3 connection handling.
• Stream multiplexing enhancements improve efficiency for concurrent requests.
• Migration support enables smooth transition from HTTP/2 to HTTP/3.

WebAssembly Enhancements

1. WASM runtime improvements provide better performance for WebAssembly extensions.
2. Plugin management enhancements enable easier development and deployment of WASM plugins.
3. Sandboxing improvements provide better isolation for WASM extensions.
4. API expansion enables more powerful WASM extension capabilities.

Performance Optimizations

• Memory efficiency improvements reduce memory usage for high-throughput workloads.
• CPU optimization reduces overhead for request processing and routing.
• Connection pooling enhancements improve efficiency for backend connections.
• Caching improvements reduce latency for frequently accessed resources.

Protocol Support

• gRPC enhancements provide better support for gRPC traffic and load balancing.
• Kafka improvements enable better handling of Kafka protocol traffic.
• Redis support enhancements provide better Redis protocol handling.
• Custom protocols enable integration with additional protocols through extensions.

Getting Started

# Install Envoy using Docker
docker pull envoyproxy/envoy:v1.29.0

# Or using Helm for Kubernetes
helm repo add envoy https://charts.envoyproxy.io
helm install envoy envoy/envoy

Example Envoy configuration:

static_resources:
  listeners:
  - name: listener_0
    address:
      socket_address:
        protocol: TCP
        address: 0.0.0.0
        port_value: 10000
    filter_chains:
    - filters:
      - name: envoy.filters.network.http_connection_manager
        typed_config:
          "@type": type.googleapis.com/envoy.extensions.filters.network.http_connection_manager.v3.HttpConnectionManager
          stat_prefix: ingress_http
          route_config:
            name: local_route
            virtual_hosts:
            - name: local_service
              domains: ["*"]
              routes:
              - match:
                  prefix: "/"
                route:
                  cluster: service_cluster
  clusters:
  - name: service_cluster
    connect_timeout: 0.25s
    type: LOGICAL_DNS
    lb_policy: ROUND_ROBIN
    load_assignment:
      cluster_name: service_cluster
      endpoints:
      - lb_endpoints:
        - endpoint:
            address:
              socket_address:
                address: backend
                port_value: 8080

Summary

Envoy 1.29 continues to be the foundation for modern service meshes and API gateways, providing teams with powerful and efficient proxy capabilities.