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Understanding Kubernetes: Part 20-Network Policy
If you’ve been following our Kubernetes series 2025, welcome back! For new readers, check out Part 19: Understanding Kubernetes: Headless Service
📖 Not a Medium member? No worries! Here’s the free link: Part 20 Network Policy
NetworkPolicy in Kubernetes
A NetworkPolicy in Kubernetes is used to control the communication between Pods within a cluster. It allows fine-grained control over ingress (incoming) and egress (outgoing) traffic to and from Pods based on labels, IP blocks, namespaces, and ports. NetworkPolicies help enforce security by restricting unauthorized access to applications running inside the cluster.
By default, Kubernetes allows unrestricted communication between all Pods; applying a NetworkPolicy restricts communication based on defined rules.
Example Use Case:
Suppose you have a frontend application that should only communicate with backend services and should not accept traffic from any other Pods. A NetworkPolicy can be applied to enforce this rule, ensuring only authorized traffic reaches the backend services.
Capabilities of NetworkPolicy:
- Pod-to-Pod Communication Control:
