Chapter Summary: Docker Overlay Newtworking

Commands

Let's explore all the commands covered in this chapter:

• docker network create tells Docker to create a new network. You use the -d overlay flag to use the overlay driver to create an overlay network. You can also pass the -o encrypted flag to tell Docker to encrypt network traffic. However, performance may drop in the region of 10%.

• docker network ls lists all the container networks visible to a Docker host. Docker hosts running in swarm mode only see overlay networks if they run containers attached to the network. This keeps network-related management traffic to a minimum.

• docker network inspect shows detailed information about a particular container network. You can find out the scope, driver, IPv4 and IPv6 info, subnet configuration, IP addresses of connected containers, VXLAN network ID, encryption state, and more.

• docker network rm deletes a network.

Quick recap

In this chapter, we created a new Docker overlay network and learned about the following technologies:

• Overlay networks allow containers to be connected across multiple hosts, making them appear to be on the same network.

• VXLAN is the underlying technology used to create overlay networks, enabling communication between containers on different physical networks.

• Docker's overlay networking simplifies the process of creating and managing overlay networks, providing a secure and efficient way to connect containers across different hosts.

• Best Practices: Use overlay networks for complex networking scenarios that require communication between containers on different hosts . Consider using encryption for sensitive data. Monitor network performance and optimize as needed.