Docker networking theory

At the highest level, Docker networking is based on the following three components:

• The Container Network Model (CNM)

• Libnetwork

• Drivers

The CNM is the design specification and outlines the fundamental building blocks of a Docker network.

Libnetwork is a real-world implementation of the CNM. It’s open-sourced as part of the Moby project and used by Docker and other platforms.

Drivers extend the model by implementing specific network topologies such as VXLAN overlay networks.

The figure below shows all three.