What does SPK mean in UNCLASSIFIED

SPK (Service Proxy for Kubernetes) is a service mesh implementation that provides secure and reliable communication between services running in a Kubernetes cluster. It acts as a proxy between services, intercepting and handling network traffic to enforce policies, perform load balancing, and provide security.

SPK operates as a sidecar container alongside application containers in Kubernetes pods. It intercepts network traffic destined for services within the cluster and applies various policies. These include:

• Policy enforcement: Enforcing network policies and access control rules to restrict communication between services.
• Load balancing: Distributing traffic across multiple instances of a service for high availability and scalability.
• Service discovery: Automatically discovering and registering services within the cluster.

SPK offers several benefits, including:

• Improved security: Enforces network policies and access controls to prevent unauthorized access.
• Increased reliability: Provides load balancing and service discovery to ensure that requests are handled seamlessly.
• Simplified management: Automates service discovery and configuration, reducing operational overhead.
• Enhanced observability: Provides insights into service communication patterns and performance metrics.

SPK is designed specifically for Kubernetes environments and leverages the Kubernetes API to manage its configuration and operation. It also provides native integration with Kubernetes features such as namespaces and labels.

SPK can be deployed using a Helm chart or through a Kubernetes manifest file. The deployment involves creating a ServiceAccount, deploying the SPK sidecar container, and configuring the necessary network policies and service annotations.