Container and Kubernetes networking deep dive

Course Description

Containerized applications are accessed over the network, but how are they connected to the network while staying isolated from each other? Participants of this training will learn about the different types of networking resources that facilitates the connectivity for containers, the Container Network Interface (CNI) as well as CNI plugins. Besides in-depth theoretical coverage students also do hands-on exercises in their own Kubernetes lab system.

Training Objectives

At the end of the training participants:

• Understand how network resources are isolated for containers and how network namespaces are connected with veth pairs, Linux bridges, Open vSwitch and routing.
• Know the role of iptables and IPVS in container networking and understand the macvlan, ipvlan and SR-IOV connection options.
• Understand the Container Network Interface (CNI) specification, including its network configuration format, execution protocol, operations, plugin delegation and conventions.
• Be familiar with the CNI reference plugins as well as popular third party plugins such as Calico, Multus CNI, Whereabouts, sriov-cni and ovs-cni.
• Understand in depth how Kubernetes services are implemented with iptables and with IPVS and how dual stack services work.
• Gain hands-on experience with container and Kubernetes networking in their own Kubernetes lab system.

Main Topics

• Network connectivity for containers
• Container network interface
• CNI plugins
• Services deep dive

Target Audience

System administrators, developers and DevOps who want to understand and use Kubernetes network features.

Prerequisites

Linux container (e.g. Docker) and Kubernetes administration skills, for instance by participating on our Docker and Kubernetes administration courses.