OpenShift Container Platform 4.2 introduces a powerful feature—support for multiple networks pods. The platform comes with a default network. You can define additional networks using the Multus CNI plug-in and then chain the plug-ins. These additional networks are useful for increasing the networking capacity requirement of the pods and when traffic separation requirements arise because of security concerns or network routing requirements.

The following CNI plug-ins are available for creating additional networks in OpenShift Container Platform 4.2:

• Bridge—The same host pods can communicate over a bridge-based additional network.
• Host-device—Pods can access the host’s physical Ethernet network device.
• Macvlan—Pods attached to a macvlan-based additional network have a unique MAC address and communicate using a physical network interface.
• Ipvlan—Pods communicate over an ipvlan-based additional network.
• SR-IOV—Pods can attach to a virtual function (VF) interface. (This is a Technology Preview feature only.)

Leaf switch consideration

When pods are provisioned with additional network interfaces based on macvlan or ipvlan, corresponding leaf switch ports must match the VLAN configuration of the host. A matching failure results in the loss of traffic.