Kubernetes Networking and Service - Frequently Asked Questions

Devtron displays the internal and external endpoints for each service in real time, mapping service-to-pod relationships visually. This helps developers quickly locate access URLs, reducing debugging effort.

A headless service (set with ClusterIP: None) allows clients to connect directly to pod IPs without load balancing - commonly used in StatefulSets.

Yes, services can be exposed externally using NodePort, LoadBalancer, or Ingress resources.

A Service routes traffic to internal pods, while an Ingress provides advanced external routing, SSL termination, and domain-based access to services.

Kubernetes networking refers to the set of protocols and infrastructure enabling communication between pods, services, and external clients within a cluster.

Monitoring pod-to-pod and service-to-service communication in Kubernetes is crucial for identifying performance bottlenecks, debugging issues, and maintaining network reliability. However, achieving this visibility manually or using fragmented tools often involves configuring multiple layers of network, application, and infrastructure, which can quickly become complex.

Devtron simplifies this challenge with built-in observability features delivered through a centralised dashboard. It enables you to:

View real-time pod and service status

Track inbound and outbound network requests

Visualize service dependencies

Set alerts for unusual communication patterns or failures

By integrating seamlessly with Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry, Devtron provides deep visibility into the Kubernetes network layer, without requiring additional setup. This abstraction of complexity helps teams resolve issues faster, streamline debugging, and ensure reliable application performance across clusters.

All pods in a Kubernetes cluster can communicate with each other using a flat IP network, regardless of their host node, thanks to the CNI plugin.

Kubernetes uses CoreDNS to resolve service names to internal IPs, enabling dynamic and automated internal communication.

It translates service names (like my-service.default.svc.cluster.local) into IP addresses using CoreDNS, eliminating the need for static IP mapping.

Kubernetes services use virtual IPs (VIPs) to route traffic to healthy backend pods. Tools like Devtron offer visual insights into this traffic path, making it easier to understand how requests are distributed, verify load balancing, and troubleshoot connectivity issues—all through a user-friendly dashboard.

Kube-proxy runs on each node and manages network rules for routing service traffic to the appropriate backend pods.

A VIP is an abstract IP assigned to a Service that load-balances traffic across multiple backend pods transparently.

Using Ingress resources and controllers, Kubernetes manages external HTTP(S) routing based on hostname and path to internal services.

Ingress is an API object that defines rules for routing external traffic (typically HTTP/HTTPS) to internal services based on domain names and URL paths.

Through Network Policies, which control the flow of traffic between pods, namespaces, or IP blocks, enhancing security and isolation.

Enforcing network policies and securing traffic flow is essential in Kubernetes. Solutions such as Devtron integrate with CNI plugins like Calico to provide visibility into active policies and surface potential misconfigurations like overly exposed services or open ports, through a visual interface.

Popular CNI plugins include: Calico, Flannel, Weave Net, Cilium

Each pod and service gets a unique IP. The CNI plugin handles IP allocation, routing, and ensuring address uniqueness cluster-wide.