Why are there different networks?
A cluster has several kinds of traffic. Naming them makes both troubleshooting and access control easier.
Different traffic has different purposes
Job participant ↔ job participant
Dataset or checkpoint ↔ server
Authorized operator ↔ BMC or console
Separate the conversations
The compute network carries communication between job participants. The storage network moves datasets and checkpoints. A management path lets operators inspect and recover systems.
Out-of-band management reaches interfaces such as BMCs separately from the normal host operating system.
These roles may use separate hardware or share it with explicit policies. A different network name alone proves neither security isolation nor resilience.
Keep recovery reachable
If the workload network fails, can operators still reach the console? Check shared switches, power, authentication, and access services.
Also consider bursts: a large checkpoint transfer may compete with other traffic on shared paths.
Try it yourself
Map job communication, model downloads, metrics collection, and BMC access. Which should a normal tenant workload initiate?
Check your answer
Only its authorized application and data flows, not unrestricted management access. Metrics permissions depend on the collection design. Document the source, destination, identity, and owner of each flow.