Kubernetes IP addresses exist at the Pod scope - containers within a Pod share their network namespaces -

including their IP address and MAC address.

1.

2. This means that containers within a Pod can all reach each other's ports on localhost.

This also means that containers within a Pod must coordinate port usage, but this is no different from

processes in a VM. This is called the "IP-per-pod" model.

3.

4. How this is implemented is a detail of the particular container runtime in use.

It is possible to request ports on the Node itself which forward to your Pod (called host ports), but this is a

very niche operation.

5.

6. How that forwarding is implemented is also a detail of the container runtime.

7. The Pod itself is blind to the existence or non-existence of host ports.