> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dcdeploy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Private Network

> Understand how DCDeploy provides private networking across environments and namespaces for secure service-to-service communication.

DCDeploy provides a **built-in private network** for all workloads.\
This allows services to securely communicate with each other **inside the same namespace or environment** without exposing them to the public internet.

***

## Overview

* Every **environment (env)** in DCDeploy has its own **isolated private network**.
* Services inside the same environment can reach each other using **internal DNS names**.
* Traffic inside the private network:
  * Never leaves DCDeploy’s infrastructure.
  * Is protected with **encryption-in-transit**.
  * Avoids public exposure unless explicitly configured.

***

## Namespaces & Isolation

* Each **namespace (per environment)** acts as a separate private network.
* Services in different namespaces cannot talk to each other unless connected via a **private link**.
* Example:
  * `service-a` in `staging` cannot reach `service-b` in `production` unless explicitly linked.

***

## Example: Internal Communication

You can call one service from another using its **service name + namespace**.

```bash theme={null}
curl http://my-api.staging.svc.cluster.local:3000/health
```

* my-api → service name
* staging → namespace (environment)
* .svc.cluster.local → private network domain suffix

## Use Cases

* Connect a backend API to a database without public exposure.
* Secure microservice-to-microservice communication inside the same environment.
* Run internal-only workloads (admin panels, monitoring agents).

## Public vs Private

| Network Type | Accessible From | Use Case                                  |
| ------------ | --------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Public**   | Internet        | Exposing APIs, websites, external clients |
| **Private**  | Internal only   | Databases, internal APIs, secure services |

## Best Practices

* Use private network for all databases and sensitive services.
* Only expose public endpoints when necessary.
* Combine with TCP Proxy for secure DB access if needed externally.
* Use private services + internal links to connect across environments.