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Life of a Packet in Kubernetes: A Network Engineer's Guide - BRKCLD-3734#

Cisco Live Europe 2026 (Amsterdam) digest Program Core pick Amsterdam · 9–13 February 2026

Abstract

Nico Vibert (Cisco)

  • Why: This hits the PM's cloud-native interests almost exactly: Cilium as dataplane, Gateway API, BGP, egress, IPsec, DSR, BIG TCP, topology-aware routing — mapped onto a full packet journey rather than feature-by-feature.
  • What: An advanced, demo-driven trace of a packet through a Kubernetes cluster: VXLAN/Geneve overlays, Gateway API, Egress Gateway, BGP routing, IPsec encryption, DSR, multi-cluster Cluster Mesh, plus performance features (BIG TCP, topology-aware traffic engineering) and troubleshooting with Hubble, Cilium CLI, and Wireshark (from abstract only).
  • How: Packet-walk structure — follow real traffic through encapsulation, routing, policy, and encryption layers, correlating observed behavior with Kubernetes constructs.
  • Where applicable: Cilium/Isovalent-specific dataplane (that's the point — it's the de facto eBPF dataplane), but the overlay/routing/egress mechanics transfer to most CNI implementations. Assumes solid IP and Kubernetes grounding.