"Cilium for Secure and Scalable Cloud Native Networking"
"Cilium for Secure and Scalable Cloud Native Networking" offers a comprehensive exploration of Cilium, the groundbreaking Kubernetes networking technology built on eBPF. The book begins with foundational concepts, guiding readers through the evolution of network interfaces in containerized environments and the limitations of traditional CNIs. Through a deep dive into eBPF's architecture and Cilium's core principles, readers gain an understanding of how performance, security, and flexibility have redefined cloud-native networking. The initial sections also contextualize Cilium within the broader CNCF ecosystem, illustrating its increasing adoption and relevance in multi-cloud, microservices, and zero-trust architectures.
Delving into technical depth, the book meticulously breaks down Cilium's architecture, from datapath internals and load balancing to its robust integration with Linux networking components and Kubernetes APIs. Practical chapters provide guidance on deploying, configuring, and operating Cilium at scale, highlighting best practices for high availability, resilience, monitoring, and automated testing. Advanced topics cover multi-cluster networking, IPAM strategies, IPv6 and dual-stack operations, and optimizing service traffic with detailed load balancing and traffic control capabilities.
Security and observability are central themes, with dedicated coverage of network policies, L7 policy enforcement, end-to-end encryption, and deep monitoring using tools like Hubble. The book also navigates real-world operations with case studies, performance benchmarking, cloud platform integrations, and migration strategies from legacy solutions. Rounding out the journey, the final chapters focus on open source community participation, contributing custom eBPF extensions, future trends, and organizational best practices—making this book an invaluable resource for practitioners, architects, and decision-makers seeking to build secure, scalable, and insight-driven Kubernetes networks with Cilium.