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Linux Network Namespaces

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Network namespaces: kernel isolation at no cost

A Linux network namespace is a complete copy of the network stack — interfaces, routing table, iptables rules, sockets — isolated from all other namespaces. Processes in different namespaces can use the same IP addresses without conflict.

This is the kernel mechanism that Docker, Kubernetes, and all Linux container systems use. Each container gets its own namespace — to it, it appears to have a dedicated network.

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