--- title: "Calico networking for Kubernetes" source: "https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/blog/calico-networking-for-kubernetes-1-0/" --- [Technical Blog](https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/category/technical-blog/) # Calico networking for Kubernetes By [Paul Tiplady](https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/blog/author/paultiplady/) on Jul 16, 2015 • 2 min read **NOTE: This blog post is very old! You can find a newer version of this blog [here](http://www.https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/blog/calico-networking-for-kubernetes/).** With the 1.0 release of Kubernetes, we are pleased to announce the first version of our Calico network plugin for Kubernetes. This plugin lets you use Calico to provide L3 routed networking for your Kubernetes pods. ## **Why Calico for Kubernetes?** Calico provides simple, scalable and secure virtual networking.  Calico uses BGP to distribute routes for every Kubernetes pod, which allows it to seamlessly integrate your Kubernetes cluster with existing data center infrastructure without the need for overlays.  The result is networking with exceptional performance and scale, that is simple to deploy, diagnose and operate. Calico is particularly suitable for large Kubernetes deployments on bare metal or in private clouds, where the performance and complexity costs of overlay networks can become significant. It can also be used in public clouds like GCE and DigitalOcean. ## **How can I get it?** There are a number of ways to get started with Calico for Kubernetes.  Check out our examples [here](http://docs.projectcalico.org/latest/getting-started/kubernetes/) to get started with one of our guides. We’ll be publishing guides for more OSs and cloud providers (including DigitalOcean), but in the meantime, if you need assistance don’t hesitate to drop us an email at [calico-tech@lists.projectcalico.org](mailto:calico-tech@lists.projectcalico.org), or send us a message on IRC at #calico. ## **Demo time!** Here’s a demo showing how easy it is to enable Calico networking on a Kubernetes cluster: ## **What’s next?** The current Calico network driver provides L3 routing for Kubernetes, but the Calico distributed firewall functionality is only available via the Calico APIs (and not via Kubernetes itself). We are working hard to bring Calico-style policy to Kubernetes; once the dust settles from the 1.0 release we’ll be working on the enhancements required to support this in Kubernetes. To understand how Calico style network policy can help you build more secure applications using microservices, watch Spike Curtis’s compelling [CoreOS Fest talk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44wOK9ObAzk).   [Open Source](https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/tags/open-source/)[Project Calico](https://wordpress-1075849-4005834.cloudwaysapps.com/tags/project-calico/) Add Tigera as a preferred source on Google to see more of our content in your search results. 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