Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform, has been widely adopted by cloud service providers (CSPs) for its advantages in simplifying container deployment, scalability and scheduling. Networking is one of the central components of Kubernetes, providing connectivity between different pods (group of containers) both within the same host and across hosts. To bootstrap Kubernetes networking, the Container Network Interface (CNI) provides a unified interface for the interaction between container runtimes. There are several CNI implementations, available as open-source ‘CNI plugins’. While they differ in functionality and performance, it is a challenge for a cloud provider to differentiate and choose the appropriate plugin for their environment. In this paper, we compare the various open source CNI plugins available from the community, qualitatively and through detailed quantitative measurements. With our experimental evaluation, we analyze the overheads and bottlenecks for each CNI plugin, as a result of the network model it implements, interaction with the host network protocol stack and the network policies implemented in iptables rules. The choice of the CNI plugin may also be based on whether intra-host or inter-host communication dominates.
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Tapis Pods Service Exploration and Initial Performance Analysis
The Tapis Pods service is a novel open-source API within the Tapis platform which enables researchers to seamlessly manage Kubernetes containers, volumes, networking, and security at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). This paper explores the underlying operations, technologies, and workflows of the Tapis Pods service, showcasing its implementation and effectiveness. Additionally, we discuss current and potential use cases, highlighting the service's unique features, such as management capabilities, persistent storage, sharing, and automatically encrypted networking. Initial performance measurements against local Docker containers and alternative cloud solutions demonstrate the Tapis Pods service's competitive performance, emphasizing its value as a general interface for deploying user-defined containers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1931439
- PAR ID:
- 10649772
- Publisher / Repository:
- Zenodo
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- containers-as-a-service cloud infrastructure open-source API Kubernetes
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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