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Kubernetes Overview

Effortless Kubernetes Integration

Integrate your Kubernetes services and workloads seamlessly into your n2x.io network topology without writing a single line of code or configuration. Since n2x.io allows connect your Workloads and ClusterIP Services to your n2x.io network topology, you can enhance network security and save money.

Benefits of Internal Connectivity:

  • Enhanced Security: Connect services internally within your n2x.io network using private IP addresses, eliminating the need to expose them directly to the internet.
  • Reduced Costs: Eliminate the need for expensive cloud load balancers and public IPs by utilizing n2x.io's internal routing capabilities.

Connecting Your Kubernetes Cluster

n2x.io seamlessly integrates with all Kubernetes implementations and flavors, regardless of on-premises or public cloud deployment.

There are two ways of connecting the applications you have running on Kubernetes to your n2x.io network topology. You can connect them at the Pod-level or Service-level.

Kubernetes Gateway

The Kubernetes Gateway is a special type of n2x-node with a Kubernetes Gateway built-in feature. This powerful component simplifies the integration of your Kubernetes services into the n2x.io virtual network.

To expose your Kubernetes cluster's ClusterIP services within a specific n2x.io subnet, you'll need to deploy a Kubernetes Gateway on that subnet.

A Kubernetes Gateway will forward automatically any TCP or UDP port the ClusterIP Service is exposing.

Understanding n2x.io Kubernetes Connection Types

There are two ways of connecting the applications you have running on Kubernetes to your n2x.io topology:

Kubernetes Services

Kubernetes Services

Deploying the Kubernetes Gateway in your Kubernetes Cluster simplifies exposing your Kubernetes ClusterIP Services as their endpoints within specific n2x.io subnets. This gateway automatically assigns each endpoint an IPv4, and IPv6 address, and a DNS name within the chosen subnet, simplifying service discovery and access.

It's important to understand that this method currently supports one-way communication. Pods associated with the Kubernetes ClusterIP Services can only receive incoming traffic initiated from within the n2x.io subnet. Initiating outgoing connections to other nodes in your n2x.io network from these pods is not currently supported.

To connect a Kubernetes ClusterIP Service to a n2x.io subnet, you need to deploy a Kubernetes Gateway in your cluster if one isn't already present. Once deployed, you can select the desired ClusterIP Service from the available ones in your cluster for connection to the chosen n2x.io subnet. This selected service will then be exposed as an endpoint through the Kubernetes Gateway. Your applications won't require any additional modifications to leverage these exposed services.

Easily Connect Kubernetes Services

Learn how to connect the Kubernetes Services to your subnet.

Kubernetes Workloads

Kubernetes Workloads

This method seamlessly integrates your Kubernetes Workloads with the n2x.io network. Each Pod becomes a full-featured n2x-node, enabling two-way communication within the chosen n2x.io subnet. This approach allows you to manage your Pods from a networking perspective, similar to how you would handle regular virtual machines (VMs) or servers.

Since Pods are connected to the n2x.io subnet with persistent IP addresses and DNS names, you can configure n2x.io security policies for them just like any other node in the network.

Connecting a Kubernetes Workload to a n2x.io subnet is streamlined. Simply choose the desired Workload from the available ones in your cluster. A dedicated n2x.io sidecar container is then automatically injected into each Pod within the Workload, eliminating the need for any modifications to your application code. These Pods will then be seamlessly connected to the chosen n2x.io subnet.

Easily Connect Kubernetes Workloads

Learn how to connect the Kubernetes Workloads to your subnet.