Im new to kubernetes. In the yaml file to create services, i define externalIPs value in order to access services from outside the cluster:

kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: mytestservice
spec:
  type: ClusterIP
  clusterIP: 10.96.1.113
  externalIPs:
    - 172.16.80.117
  ports:
    - name: tcp-8088
      protocol: TCP
      port: 8088
      targetPort: 8088:
  selector:
    service-app: mytestservice

and it works just fine, i can call to my service by using externalIp:port (this case 172.16.80.117:8088). But i heard people talking about ingress controller (and some API gateways) that provide access from outside. I do read about them a bit but still cant tell what're the differences!? and does my cluster need them or not?

(According to the accepted answer i found here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44110876/kubernetes-service-external-ip-pending

With the Ingress Controller you can setup a domain name which maps to your pod; you don't need to give your Service the LoadBalancer type if you use an Ingress Controller.

My cluster is a custom K8s Cluster too, using kubeadm. If i have no need of using domain name, just address my services directly by externalip and port then i can totally ignore ingress controller. Am i right?

Thanks!