Garanti del Talento

dgt_k8s07 – Networking

Module Title: dgt_k8s07 – K8S Networking

Module Overview

dgt_k8s07 – K8S Networking is an advanced module on networking within the Kubernetes ecosystem. This module focuses on the integration and management of the network components that are essential for scaling and securing containerized applications.

Networking is where a precise mental model matters most. After studying how packets travel between pods, nodes, and services, you will work exclusively in natural language: you ask the machine to isolate a namespace with a Calico policy, expose a deployment through a NodePort, or trace why two pods cannot reach each other. Then you read the manifests and the diagnostic output it produces, check them against the theory, and redirect the agent until the traffic flows exactly as intended, and nowhere else.

Key Topics

  • Introduction to Kubernetes Networking: Understand the core concepts and architecture underlying Kubernetes networking.

  • Software Defined Networking (SDN): Explore how SDN technologies enhance flexibility, automation, and scalability in cloud environments, and their role in simplifying complex network infrastructures within Kubernetes clusters.

  • Calico Network Policies: Study Calico’s approach to micro-segmentation and security enforcement through fine-grained policy management. Learn how Calico is used to secure pod communication across different namespaces.

  • Kubernetes OVN (Open Virtual Network): Learn about the OVN architecture and its benefits in Kubernetes networking, including dynamic IP address allocation and multi-cluster communication.

  • Open vSwitch (OVS): Understand the functionality of Open vSwitch as a multilayer virtual switch. Explore how OVS supports advanced network functions such as VLANs, load balancing, and traffic shaping within Kubernetes.

  • Pod Addressing: Study pod IP management strategies in Kubernetes. Learn the differences between host-local addressing and cluster-wide unique IPs, and their implications for application deployment.

  • Services in Kubernetes: Study the role of services in exposing applications running on a set of Pods as a network service. Explore the different types of services (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer) and how they enable communication within and outside the cluster.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

  • Design robust Kubernetes networking solutions based on SDN technologies and describe them to the machine clearly enough for it to implement them.
  • Instruct the agent to configure Calico for stronger security policy enforcement, and verify that each policy allows and blocks exactly the intended traffic.
  • Direct the deployment and operation of OVN in Kubernetes clusters, reviewing the resulting configuration for performance and manageability.
  • Specify which Open vSwitch features a containerized application needs and check that the machine has applied them correctly.
  • Read and validate the pod addressing and Service definitions the machine produces for efficient application exposure and communication.

Target Audience

This module is intended for DevOps engineers, system architects, network administrators, and IT professionals responsible for Kubernetes environments. Prior knowledge of Kubernetes concepts and basic networking principles is recommended: it is what allows you to judge whether the machine’s networking choices are right.

The module covers what is needed to manage and optimize containerized application deployments in a cloud-native ecosystem.
The students can push their exercises to the Academy DevOps & SRE Git project. For this module, create a folder with your username as its name in the following subfolder: https://github.com/Garanti-Del-Talento/gdt_academy