Member-only story
Cilium: High-Performance Networking and Security for Kubernetes
Introduction
Modern cloud-native applications require high performance, flexibility, and security. Kubernetes, as the standard for container orchestration, provides basic networking capabilities, but for complex scenarios (e.g., microservices architectures), standard network plugins (CNI) may not be sufficient. This is where Cilium comes in — a powerful networking plugin that leverages eBPF to manage networking, security, and observability.
In this article, we will explore what Cilium is, how it works, and provide examples of its usage.
What is Cilium?
Cilium is a platform for networking and security that uses eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) to manage network traffic in Kubernetes. Cilium replaces traditional network plugins (e.g., Flannel or Calico) and provides:
- High-performance routing.
- Flexible network policies.
- Tools for monitoring and tracing network traffic.
