Docker Networking Theory

At the highest level, Docker networking is based on the following three components:

• The Container Network Model (CNM): The CNM is the design specification and outlines the fundamental building blocks of a Docker network.

• Libnetwork: Libnetwork is a real-world implementation of the CNM. It’s open-sourced as part of the Moby project and used by Docker and other platforms.

• Drivers: Drivers extend the model by implementing specific network topologies such as VXLAN overlay networks.

The figure below shows all three.