interpod

Interpod is a term used in cloud-native computing to describe the set of mechanisms that enable communication between pods—the smallest deployable units in many container orchestration systems, most notably Kubernetes. It is not a formal standard, but a descriptive concept that appears in documentation and discussions about how pods in a cluster interact with one another.

In Kubernetes, inter-pod communication is enabled by the cluster’s pod networking model. Each pod is assigned its own IP address, allowing pods to communicate directly using IPs or DNS names. The network layer is typically provided by a container network interface (CNI) plugin, which handles IP assignment and routing across nodes. By default, any pod can reach any other pod, though network policies can be used to restrict or shape traffic between pods for security or compliance reasons. Services provide stable endpoints for accessing groups of pods and perform load balancing, while kube-proxy and the underlying network provide the actual packet routing.

Security and observability are common concerns in inter-pod traffic. Service meshes such as Istio or Linkerd can enable mTLS encryption, traffic management, and detailed telemetry for inter-pod calls, enhancing security and visibility without requiring changes to application code.

Challenges associated with inter-pod communication include IP address management in large clusters, policy complexity, cross-node latency, and multi-cluster or hybrid-cloud connectivity. Effective inter-pod design balances performance, security, and operational simplicity within the chosen orchestration platform.

See also: Kubernetes, pods, CNI, service mesh, network policy, service discovery.