60 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Concepts
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description: Traefik - base concepts and main features
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---
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# Concepts
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This page explains the base concepts of Traefik.
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---
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## Introduction
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Traefik is based on the concept of EntryPoints, Routers, Middlewares and Services.
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The main features include dynamic configuration, automatic service discovery, and support for multiple backends and protocols.
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1. [EntryPoints](../routing/entrypoints.md "Link to docs about EntryPoints"): EntryPoints are the network entry points into Traefik. They define the port which will receive the packets, and whether to listen for TCP or UDP.
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2. [Routers](../routing/routers/index.md "Link to docs about routers"): A router is in charge of connecting incoming requests to the services that can handle them.
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3. [Middlewares](../middlewares/overview.md "Link to docs about middlewares"): Attached to the routers, middlewares can modify the requests or responses before they are sent to your service
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4. [Services](../routing/services/index.md "Link to docs about services"): Services are responsible for configuring how to reach the actual services that will eventually handle the incoming requests.
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## Edge Router
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Traefik is an *Edge Router*; this means that it's the door to your platform, and that it intercepts and routes every incoming request:
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it knows all the logic and every [rule](../routing/routers/index.md#rule "Link to docs about routing rules") that determine which services handle which requests (based on the *path*, the *host*, *headers*, etc.).
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## Auto Service Discovery
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Where traditionally edge routers (or reverse proxies) need a configuration file that contains every possible route to your services, Traefik gets them from the services themselves.
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Deploying your services, you attach information that tells Traefik the characteristics of the requests the services can handle.
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This means that when a service is deployed, Traefik detects it immediately and updates the routing rules in real time.
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Similarly, when a service is removed from the infrastructure, the corresponding route is deleted accordingly.
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You no longer need to create and synchronize configuration files cluttered with IP addresses or other rules.
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!!! info "Many different rules"
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In the example above, we used the request [path rule](../routing/routers/index.md#rule "Link to docs about routing rules") to determine which service was in charge.
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Certainly, you can use many other different [rules](../routing/routers/index.md#rule "Link to docs about routing rules").
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!!! info "Updating the requests"
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In the [middleware](../middlewares/overview.md "Link to middleware documentation") section, you can learn about how to update the requests before forwarding them to the services.
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!!! question "How does Traefik discover the services?"
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Traefik is able to use your cluster API to discover the services and read the attached information.
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In Traefik, these connectors are called [providers](../providers/overview.md "Link to overview about Traefik providers") because they *provide* the configuration to Traefik.
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{!traefik-for-business-applications.md!}
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