What Is the Default Networking Solution in a Vultr Kubernetes Engine Cluster?

Vultr Kubernetes Engine (VKE) uses Calico as the default Container Network Interface (CNI) for cluster networking. Calico provides a reliable and high-performance networking layer with advanced features suitable for production workloads:

• Pod-to-Pod Communication: Calico assigns unique IP addresses to each pod, enabling direct communication between pods across nodes without NAT.
• Network Policies: You can define specific rules that control which pods or services are allowed to communicate with others. For example, you can restrict traffic so that only frontend pods can reach backend pods, while denying other connections.
• IP Address Management: Calico handles the allocation and tracking of IP addresses across all nodes and pods, ensuring no conflicts and supporting scalable clusters.
• High Performance: The solution provides efficient packet routing between pods and nodes, minimizing latency and maximizing throughput.
• Scalability and Reliability: Calico supports large clusters with thousands of nodes while maintaining stable networking and consistent policy enforcement.

Using Calico, VKE provides a secure, scalable, and observable networking environment suitable for modern containerized applications.