Technology · Ebook

MetalLB: Load Balancing for Bare-Metal Kubernetes

by Shriira Press

When you run Kubernetes on your own hardware, a Service of type LoadBalancer hangs pending forever, because there is no cloud provider to conjure a load balancer. MetalLB fills that gap, handing out IP addresses from pools you control and announcing them with standard routing protocols — ARP and NDP in layer 2 mode, or BGP when you want routers to share the load. This book opens with the problem MetalLB solves, then explores its controller-and-speaker design, address allocation and IP pools, the mechanics of layer 2 and BGP mode, installation and the FRR backend, and the daily work of exposing services with annotations and traffic policies. A closing chapter shows where MetalLB fits and how to run it well.

Contents

1. 1Preface
2. 2Chapter 1 — The Empty External IP
3. 3Chapter 2 — Controller and Speaker
4. 4Chapter 3 — Address Allocation and IP Pools
5. 5Chapter 4 — Layer 2 Mode
6. 6Chapter 5 — BGP Mode
7. 7Chapter 6 — Installation and the FRR Backend
8. 8Chapter 7 — Using MetalLB Day to Day
9. 9Chapter 8 — MetalLB in Practice