Node Port vs Cluster IP Kubernetes | DevOps | Interview | Tech Arkit

In Kubernetes, NodePort and ClusterIP are both mechanisms for exposing services to the outside world, but they serve different purposes.

1. NodePort:

   • NodePort is a type of service that exposes a service on a specific port of each node in the cluster.
   • When you expose a service using NodePort, Kubernetes will allocate a specific port on every node in the cluster (usually in the range 30000-32767) and any traffic sent to this port will be forwarded to the corresponding service.
   • NodePort is typically used when you need to access a service from outside the Kubernetes cluster, for example, to expose a web application to the internet.

   Example Usage:

   yaml
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Service
   metadata:
     name: my-service
   spec:
     type: NodePort
     selector:
       app: my-app
     ports:
       - port: 80
         targetPort: 8080
         nodePort: 30000
   

2. ClusterIP:

   • ClusterIP is a type of service that exposes a service on an internal IP address that is only reachable from within the Kubernetes cluster.
   • This is the default type of service in Kubernetes.
   • ClusterIP is used for communication between services within the cluster.

   Example Usage:

   yaml
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Service
   metadata:
     name: my-service
   spec:
     selector:
       app: my-app
     ports:
       - port: 80
         targetPort: 8080
   

Usage scenarios:

• If you have an application that needs to be accessed from outside the cluster, you would typically use NodePort. For example, a web application that needs to be accessed via a browser.
• If you have microservices within your cluster that need to communicate with each other, you would typically use ClusterIP. For example, a frontend service communicating with a backend service.

In summary, NodePort is used for exposing services to the outside world, while ClusterIP is used for internal communication within the cluster.