A pod can have SR-IOV virtual-function (VF) interfaces on multiple network rails and still fail to communicate across them. The missing piece may be a route or policy-routing rule, but the right fix depends on the pod’s interface addresses, rail subnets, gateways, routing profile, and the surrounding network. Without those details, there is no safe universal route command.
What “multi-rail” and SR-IOV mean in this setup
NVIDIA’s DOCA documentation describes the SR-IOV CNI plugin as provisioning VF network devices into pods: “The SR-IOV Container Network Interface (CNI) plugin provisions Virtual Function (VF) network devices into the Pods.” The plugin works with a device plugin and a metaplugin such as Multus.
Multus participates in attaching secondary networks to a pod and passes allocated device identifiers to delegate CNI plugins. A NetworkAttachmentDefinition can identify a device resource through an annotation. The NVIDIA Kubernetes Launch Kit uses “multi-rail” to mean enabling more than one east-west rail, and documents destination-based and source-based routing options.
Why cross-rail communication can fail
Having multiple interfaces does not establish how traffic should leave the pod. A packet’s path depends on the pod’s addresses and route tables, any policy-routing rules, the selected routing profile, and whether the network fabric can carry traffic to the destination. Replies also need a valid return path; forward routing alone does not establish that responses use the expected rail.
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The Launch Kit documents routing profiles, not a one-size-fits-all route for every topology. A concrete route cannot be inferred without the interface names, subnet prefixes, gateways, and intended source-and-destination pairs. Applying a guessed default route or source rule can send traffic onto the wrong rail or leave replies asymmetric.
Gather the pod and deployment facts before changing routes
- Identify the attached interfaces and addresses. Inspect the pod’s network interfaces and determine which secondary network attachment supplied each one. Record each interface name, address, and prefix.
- Capture routes and policy rules. Record the pod’s route table and policy-routing rules, including which table or interface a rule selects. Do not assume that the main routing table describes all traffic paths.
- Map intended traffic. For each failing flow, note the source address, destination address, expected rail, and whether the destination is on-link or reached through a gateway.
- Check the network attachment and CNI chain. Confirm the NetworkAttachmentDefinition, allocated device resource, and delegate CNI plugins in use. Compare those components with the selected routing profile.
- Check both directions. Establish that the chosen rail can reach the destination and that the destination’s reply can return through the expected interface and path.
These observations distinguish a missing pod route from a mismatch in the CNI profile, an unreachable gateway, or an invalid return path. They also provide the information needed to choose a route or policy without guessing.
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Choose routing behavior to match the traffic design
The Launch Kit offers two routing approaches. The choice should follow the workload’s traffic requirements and the network design, not a general assumption that all cross-rail traffic needs source-based routing.
| Question | Destination-based routing | Source-based routing |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers route selection? | The destination address and matching routes determine the path. | Source-based policy is used when traffic needs to be routed according to its source; confirm the specific profile’s rules and tables. |
| When might it fit? | When destinations or prefixes map cleanly to the intended rails. | When traffic from different source interfaces must remain on their corresponding rails. |
| Documented CNI detail | The Launch Kit documents this as a routing option. | In the documented Launch Kit profile, the sbr CNI plugin is added outside Spectrum-X. This is profile-specific; check the Launch Kit version and deployment profile before applying it. |
| What still needs validation? | That the selected route reaches the destination and the return path works. | That source-based rules select the intended table and both forward and return paths work. |
The reference does not determine which option is correct for a particular cluster. Verify the behavior against the versions and configuration actually deployed, including the NVIDIA Network Operator, Launch Kit, CNI plugins, and Kubernetes.
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What information is needed to prescribe a route
Before writing an exact route or policy rule, collect at least the pod’s interface names and addresses, the prefixes for each rail, the relevant gateways, the current route tables and policy rules, and the intended source-and-destination pairs. Also identify the routing profile and CNI chain. Without those values, an example command would encode assumptions that may not fit the network.
Once those facts are known, compare the intended path with the pod’s actual route and rule selection, confirm gateway reachability on the selected interface, and verify the destination-side return path. Change only the route or policy that the comparison shows is missing or incorrect.
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