Follow one request from the frontend pod to a backend pod: a DNS lookup, a virtual IP, kube-proxy's rewrite, then a pod on either node. Switch the Service type to let outside traffic in, or press ▶ Guided tour.
| Pod | Node | Pod IP | Service |
|---|
Every pod gets its own IP, and any pod can reach any other directly over the pod network. Pods come and go and change IPs, so clients use a Service: a stable name in cluster DNS and a stable virtual IP. The Service lists its ready pods in an EndpointSlice, and kube-proxy on every node turns traffic for the virtual IP into traffic for one of them. NodePort opens the same port on every node for outside traffic; LoadBalancer puts a cloud load balancer in front.