BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes, addressing today’s enterprise challenges

Kubernetes complexities
BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes
Deployment overview
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Enterprises have started adopting Kubernetes (K8s)—not just cloud service providers—as it offers strategic advantages in agility, cost efficiency, security, and future-proofing.

Cloud Native Functions account for around 60% TCO savings
Easier to deploy, manage, maintain, and scale.
Easier to add and roll out new services.

Kubernetes complexities

With the move from traditional application deployments to microservices and containerized services, some complexities were introduced,

Networking Challenges with Kubernetes Default Deployments

Kubernetes networking has some problems when using default settings. These problems can affect performance, security, and reliability in production environments.

Core Networking Challenges

- Flat Network Model
  - All pods can communicate with all other pods by default (east-west traffic)
  - No network segmentation between applications
  - Potential security risks from excessive inter-pod communication
- Service Discovery Limitations
  - DNS-based service discovery has caching behaviors that can delay updates
  - No built-in load balancing awareness (can route to unhealthy pods during updates)
  - Limited traffic shaping capabilities (all requests treated equally)
- Ingress Challenges
  - No default ingress controller installed
  - Multiple ingress controllers can conflict if not properly configured
  - SSL/TLS termination requires manual certificate management
- Network Policy Absence
  - No network policies applied by default (allow all traffic).
  - Difficult to implement zero-trust networking principles
  - No default segmentation between namespaces
- DNS Issues
  - CoreDNS default cache settings may not be optimal.
  - Pod DNS policies may not match application requirements.
  - Nodelocal DNS cache not enabled by default
- Load-Balancing Problems
  - Service `ClusterIP` is the default (no external access).
  - NodePort` services can conflict on port allocations.
  - Cloud provider load balancers can be expensive if overused
  - CNI (Container Network Interface) Considerations
  - Default CNI plugin may not support required features
  - Network performance varies significantly between CNI choices
  - IP address management challenges at scale

Performance-Specific Issues

- - - kube-proxy inefficiencies
      - Default iptables mode becomes slow with many services
      - IPVS (IP Virtual Server) mode requires explicit configuration
      - Service mesh sidecars can double latency
    - Pod Network Overhead
      - Additional hops for cross-node communication
      - Encapsulation overhead with some CNI plugins
      - No QoS guarantees for network traffic
    - Multicluster Communication
      - No default solution for cross-cluster networking
      - Complex to establish secure connections between clusters
      - Service discovery doesn’t span clusters by default

Security Challenges

- No default encryption between pods
  - No default authentication for service-to-service communication.
  - All namespaces are network-accessible to each other by default.
  - External traffic can bypass ingress controllers if misconfigured.

These challenges highlight why most production Kubernetes deployments require significant, complex customization beyond the default configuration.

Figure 1 shows those workarounds being implemented and how complicated our setup would be, with multiple add-ons required to overcome Kubernetes limitations.

In the following section, we are exploring how BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes simplifies and enhances application delivery and security within Kubernetes environment.