Kubernetes Network Drivers

[Antonio Ojea]

Hi everyone,

Some of you may remember the "Kubernetes Network Drivers" concept we initially presented at the Contributor Summit in Paris last year.  I have been working since then on the execution of this idea, collaborating with the Device Management WG in DRA and the OCI and NRI communities to get the necessary changes into the runtime specifications, and developing a reference implementation, DraNet.

I'm really happy to share some results of this work in the following research paper: "The Kubernetes Network Driver Model: A Composable Architecture for High-Performance Networking."

The paper shows how this new architecture solves complex networking challenges,focused on the AI/ML use cases, using an approach that is much simpler than what exists today. A huge advantage of this model is how it reduces the operational complexity, making it far easier to deploy, manage, and debug.

I'm very happy with the results so far, but I'd like to clarify a couple of frequently asked questions:

1. Is NRI meant to replace CNI?

Not at all; in fact, I think they are complementary. The architecture shows that CNI is excellent for its core purpose: assigning an IP address and a default interface. However, for more advanced operations such as topology-aware placements, or integrations like Service Meshes or additional network functionality like Network Policies, NRI provides a much better and capable interface. It's about using the right tool for the right job. NRI is also continuously adding functionality to overcome existing limitations, so community feedback is really important at this point.

2. Is DraNet a Multus replacement?

No. This is the core philosophy of Kubernetes Network Drivers. DraNet is not a general-purpose tool; it is a specialized driver focused on solving the complex problem of attaching network interfaces (specially RDMA devices) for AI/ML pods. The idea is to enable an ecosystem of composable, function-specific drivers: a MultiNetwork KND, an SRv6 KND, an MPLS KND, .... Composition happens at the functional level, rather than by chaining technologies together.

I look forward to your feedback and discussion.

Best regards,

Antonio Ojea

[Keith Mattix]

Thanks for sharing Antonio! I'm really excited about the network driver model presented in the paper; as the cloud-native networking ecosystem continues to grow, being able to smoothly compose across different layers and implementations is essential. I did have a question about DRANet though. it's positioned as a network driver reference implementation and the past, those kinds of projects were housed in the kubernetes org (or kubernetes-sigs). Do you know if it would be possible to follow that pattern with DRANet? I think it would invite more collaboration within the k8s community.

-Keith Mattix

[Lionel Jouin]

Hi,

Thank you for the great work @Antonio Ojea. The paper is well written, very detailed and precise. it's a great value for the work around DRA and Networking!

For the part about optimization and CPU support. The DRA Driver CPU repository has been created, I guess it will include the features you mentioned (CPU pinning, NUMA alignment...). So both drivers could be integrated easily if we standardize more resource attributes (PCI Root, NUMA Node...).

https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/dra-driver-cpu

Thank you for your question @Keith Mattix. A networking DRA Driver exists under kubernetes-sigs, it's the CNI-DRA-Driver. For now, it's only PoCs that were presented in the last 2 Kubecons (EU and Japan) to showcase the latest DRA features (KEP-4817 - ResourceClaim Status and KEP-5075 - Consumable Capacity). My plan is to continue working on it soon (I apologize if the repository is inactive for now, the PoCs are on forks).

https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cni-dra-driver

Kubecon EU - Uncharted Waters: Dynamic Resource Allocation for Networking - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgCaIyeRn6Y

Kubecon Japan - Reimagining Cloud Native Networks: The Critical Role of DRA - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Educ-f1xTec

Thank you,

Lionel

---

From: kubernetes-...@googlegroups.com <kubernetes-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Keith Mattix <keithm...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 1, 2025 6:16 PM
To: wg-device-management <wg-device-...@kubernetes.io>
Cc: Antonio Ojea <antonio.o...@gmail.com>; kubernetes-sig-node <kubernete...@googlegroups.com>; wg-device-...@kubernetes.io <wg-device-...@kubernetes.io>; kubernetes-sig-network <kubernetes-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [k8s-sig-net] Re: Kubernetes Network Drivers

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "kubernetes-sig-network" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to kubernetes-sig-ne...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/kubernetes-sig-network/e2687bed-a64d-44ce-b9c9-ceab858eb8fen%40kubernetes.io.