--- title: "Everything you need to know about Kubernetes Services networking" source: "https://www.tigera.io/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kubernetes-services-networking/" --- [Technical Blog](https://www.tigera.io/category/technical-blog/) # Everything you need to know about Kubernetes Services networking By [Alex Pollitt](https://www.tigera.io/blog/author/alexpollitt/) on Apr 22, 2020 • 2 min read Services are one of the key Kubernetes primitives you need to understand to glue microservices together and expose your applications outside of the cluster. The Service resource provides an abstract way to expose an application running on a set of Pods as a network service. Sounds simple, but what’s the difference between a Cluster IP, Node Port, and Load Balancer service? And how do all these abstractions translate to real under the covers networking behavior? I created this short 7-minute video that explains all this and more! In the video you’ll learn: - How pods consume services within the cluster (Cluster IPs). - The different ways a service can be consumed outside of the cluster (Node Ports, Load Balancers, and Service IP advertisement). - What is External Traffic Policy and how does it impact a service? - How Services and Network Policy interact. - How all this works under the covers in concrete networking terms. - What differences Calico’s native service handling capabilities bring to the picture compared to kube-proxy. Happy watching! If you enjoyed this video then you may also like: - [Everything you need to know about Kubernetes Ingress networking](https://www.tigera.io/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kubernetes-ingress-networking/) - [Everything you need to know about Kubernetes networking on AWS](https://www.tigera.io/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kubernetes-pod-networking-on-aws/) - [Everything you need to know about Kubernetes networking on Azure](https://www.tigera.io/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kubernetes-networking-on-azure/) - [Everything you need to know about Kubernetes networking on Google Cloud](https://www.tigera.io/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-kubernetes-networking-on-google-cloud/) - Free online training at [projectcalico.org/events](http://projectcalico.org/events) or subscribe to [Calico Essentials](https://info.tigera.io/rs/805-GFH-732/images/Calico-Essentials-Datasheet.pdf) for personalized training & workshops [Products](https://www.tigera.io/tags/products/) ## Related posts [![Meet Mylo: An AI-native way to work with Calico](https://www.tigera.io/app/uploads/2026/09/Meet-Mylo-An-AI-native-way-to-work-with-Calico.png)](https://www.tigera.io/blog/meet-mylo-an-ai-native-way-to-work-with-calico/) #### [Meet Mylo: An AI-native way to work with Calico](https://www.tigera.io/blog/meet-mylo-an-ai-native-way-to-work-with-calico/) By [Phil DiCorpo](https://www.tigera.io/blog/author/phil-dicorpo/) on Sep 3, 2026 A library of Calico tools and skills — delivered through the Calico MCP Server What if your hardest network question took ten minutes instead of ten days? 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