Spiderpool

What Spiderpool is

Spiderpool is a Kubernetes networking solution for underlay networks and RDMA across bare metal, virtual machines, and public clouds. Its CRD-based IP address management supports IPv4 and IPv6 together, shared or exclusive address pools, and static addresses for stateful applications. It works with Macvlan, IPvlan, and SR-IOV; its IPAM can also pair with compatible CNIs such as Calico and Weave. Pods can use several underlay interfaces or combine underlay and overlay interfaces, with policy routing coordinated across them. Documented connectivity tools cover Pod-to-host access, conflict detection for IP addresses, gateway reachability checks, and service access through kube-proxy or an eBPF-based alternative. RDMA support includes RoCE and InfiniBand, with devices assigned to Pods in shared or exclusive mode. The project names storage, middleware, observability, AI training, latency-sensitive work, and applications needing separate network bandwidth as use cases. It is licensed under Apache License 2.0 and is described as a CNCF sandbox project. The free open-source plan costs nothing.

Who it suits

Spiderpool suits Kubernetes operators running on bare metal, virtual machines, or public clouds who need underlay networking, multiple interfaces, or RDMA. Its listed use cases include storage, observability, AI training, and latency-sensitive workloads.

Limits

IPAM and multiple NIC and routing coordination are marked beta. RDMA and multi-cluster networking are marked alpha for Macvlan, IPvlan, and SR-IOV; SpiderSubnet requires Kubernetes v1.21 or later.

Getting started

1. Review the project documentation at https://spidernet-io.github.io/spiderpool/.
2. Plan for a supported environment: Kubernetes on bare metal, virtual machines, or public clouds, with x86-64 or arm64 nodes.
3. Select a compatible networking setup, such as Macvlan, IPvlan, or SR-IOV; compatible CNIs can also use its IPAM.
4. Configure the IP address pools and interface arrangement for the workload.
5. If using SpiderSubnet, ensure the Kubernetes version is v1.21 or later.
6. Use the listed CNCF Slack, monthly meeting, maintainer email, or WeChat group for community contact.

Verdict

Spiderpool combines Kubernetes address management, underlay networking, and RDMA in a free, open-source project. Check the maturity of individual features and the SpiderSubnet Kubernetes requirement when assessing fit.