Devconf.cz 2023

MAC duplication in a LAN is an ancient problem which engineers struggled to solve ever since the uprise of the star network topology.
In the traditional virtualization domain, the classic solution is to use a MAC pool and assure the assignment of unique MACs per each vNIC.

However, when we delve into Kubernetes [1] and the cloud domain, this classic approach encounters challenges which complicate and degrade regular workloads.

This session will study kubemacpool [2], a traditional MAC pool manager used for KubeVirt [3].
Afterwards we will compare it with a new reactive approach in which we do not try to avoid collisions, but to react when they are discovered.
Attendees will get to know the existing solution cons and possible solutions.

[1] https://kubernetes.io/
[2] https://github.com/k8snetworkplumbingwg/kubemacpool
[3] https://kubevirt.io/