This article explains the Kubernetes network model, introduces the CNI standard, and compares four popular network plugins—Flannel, Calico, Weave Net, and Cilium—highlighting their features, advantages, and suitable use cases for different cluster sizes and requirements.
This article explains the fundamentals of Container Network Interface (CNI), outlines common plugin implementations, and dives deep into Alibaba Cloud's Terway solution, detailing its elastic ENI support, Vethpair and ipvlan modes, resource management, scheduling, network policy integration, and future enhancements such as eBPF.
This article introduces the five most popular Kubernetes CNI network plugins—Flannel, Calico, Weave Net, Cilium, and Canal—detailing their features, typical use‑cases, and installation commands to help you choose the right solution for your cluster.
This guide explains the background, architecture, and step‑by‑step deployment of Multus CNI in a Kubernetes cluster, including configuring Calico and Flannel as primary and secondary networks, creating network attachment definitions, and testing pod connectivity across multiple interfaces.
This article explains how Kubernetes ensures each Pod gets a unique IP address by detailing the roles and interactions of Flannel, CNI plugins, the CRI, and the kube‑controller‑manager, and shows the configuration steps needed for container runtimes like containerd.
This article explains what the Container Network Interface (CNI) is, how Kubernetes uses CNI plugins, and provides a detailed comparison of Overlay, Routing, and Underlay plugins based on environment constraints, functional needs, and performance considerations.
This article explains Docker's native networking model based on Linux namespaces and veth pairs, describes the docker0 bridge, container linking, and port exposure, and then reviews six prominent Docker network optimization projects—Libnetwork, Pipework, Socketplane, Weave, Flannel, and Tinc—highlighting their architectures and use cases.
Although Docker’s libnetwork/CNM offers a network plugin model, Kubernetes has chosen not to adopt it due to fundamental design mismatches, reliance on low‑level key‑value stores, security and scalability concerns, and a strategic shift toward the simpler, more portable CNI plugin framework.
