Networking
The Calico Enterprise network plugins provide a range of networking options to fit your implementation and maximize performance.
Getting started​
Determine best networking option
Learn about the different networking options Calico Enterprise supports so you can choose the best option for your needs.
Networking overview
Learn about networking layers, packets, IP addressing, and routing.
Kubernetes network model
Learn network behaviors of the Kubernetes network model.
Configuring networking​
Configure BGP peering
Configure BGP peering with full mesh, node-specific peering, ToR, and/or Calico route reflectors.
Deploy a dual ToR cluster
Configure a dual plane cluster for redundant connectivity between workloads.
Configure multiple Calico Enterprise networks on a pod
Configure a cluster with multiple Calico Enterprise networks on each pod, and enforce security using Calico Enterprise tiered network policy.
Overlay networking
Configure Calico to use IP in IP or VXLAN overlay networking so the underlying network doesn’t need to understand pod addresses.
Advertise Kubernetes service IP addresses
Configure Calico to advertise Kubernetes service cluster IPs and external IPs outside the cluster using BGP.
Configure MTU to maximize network performance
Optimize network performance for workloads by configuring the MTU in Calico to best suit your underlying network.
Custom BGP configuration
Customize your BGP configuration.
Configure outgoing NAT
Configure networking to perform outbound NAT for connections from pods to outside of the cluster.
Use a specific MAC address for a pod
Specify the MAC address for a pod instead of allowing the operating system to assign one
Use NodeLocal DNSCache in your cluster
Install NodeLocal DNSCache
IP address management​
Configure BGP peering
Configure BGP peering with full mesh, node-specific peering, ToR, and/or Calico route reflectors.
Deploy a dual ToR cluster
Configure a dual plane cluster for redundant connectivity between workloads.
Configure multiple Calico Enterprise networks on a pod
Configure a cluster with multiple Calico Enterprise networks on each pod, and enforce security using Calico Enterprise tiered network policy.
Overlay networking
Configure Calico to use IP in IP or VXLAN overlay networking so the underlying network doesn’t need to understand pod addresses.
Advertise Kubernetes service IP addresses
Configure Calico to advertise Kubernetes service cluster IPs and external IPs outside the cluster using BGP.
Configure MTU to maximize network performance
Optimize network performance for workloads by configuring the MTU in Calico to best suit your underlying network.
Custom BGP configuration
Customize your BGP configuration.
Configure outgoing NAT
Configure networking to perform outbound NAT for connections from pods to outside of the cluster.
Use a specific MAC address for a pod
Specify the MAC address for a pod instead of allowing the operating system to assign one
Use NodeLocal DNSCache in your cluster
Install NodeLocal DNSCache
Egress gateways​
Configure egress gateways, on-premises
Configure specific application traffic to exit the cluster through an egress gateway.
Configure egress gateways, Azure
Configure specific application traffic to exit the cluster through an egress gateway with a native Azure IP address.
Configure egress gateways, AWS
Configure specific application traffic to exit the cluster through an egress gateway with a native AWS IP address.
Optimize egress networking for workloads with long-lived TCP connections
React to egress gateway maintenance windows and minimize the impact of egress gateway downtime on sensitive workloads
Configure egress traffic to multiple external networks
Allows workloads from different namespaces of a Kubernetes cluster to egress onto different external networks that (may) have overlapping IPs with each other.
Troubleshoot egress gateways
Use checklist to troubleshoot common problems.