Submariner 0.11: Multi-Cluster Networking
K8s Guru
2 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
Multi-cluster is often a networking problem before it’s an application problem: clusters live in different networks, IP ranges collide, and “just call the other service” becomes a maze of VPNs and brittle routing rules.
Submariner 0.11, released on November 30, 2020, focuses on making cross-cluster connectivity more practical: more reliable gateways, smoother service discovery, and stronger security primitives so clusters can communicate across environments without bespoke plumbing.
When you’d reach for Submariner
- Cluster-to-cluster networking when you need L3 connectivity between Pods/Services across clusters.
- Environment separation (regions, clouds, on-prem + cloud) where connectivity must survive partial outages.
- A foundation for higher-level patterns like multi-cluster service discovery and federated workloads.
Connectivity Improvements
- Gateway enhancements provide better reliability for cross-cluster connections.
- Route management improvements simplify network path configuration.
- Failover mechanisms enable automatic recovery from connection failures.
- Performance optimizations reduce latency for cross-cluster communication.
Service Discovery
- Global service discovery enables accessing services across clusters.
- DNS integration improvements provide seamless service resolution.
- Service export enhancements simplify sharing services between clusters.
- Load balancing support enables distributing traffic across clusters.
Security Enhancements
- mTLS support provides secure communication between clusters.
- Network policies integration enables enforcing security policies across clusters.
- Certificate management improvements simplify TLS certificate rotation.
- Encryption enhancements protect data in transit between clusters.
Getting Started
subctl deploy-broker
subctl join broker-info.subm --clusterid cluster1
Summary
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 30, 2020 |
| Headline Features | Connectivity improvements, service discovery, security enhancements |
| Why it Matters | Enables secure networking between Kubernetes clusters across different environments |
Submariner 0.11 continues to evolve as a solution for multi-cluster networking, providing teams with the tools needed to connect and manage Kubernetes clusters across different environments.