Hardware for Kubernetes Experimentation and Services

[rarifiedbovine]

Hey folks! I've been running a home server for a while--stuff like nextcloud, *arrs, jellyfin, a self-hosted virtual tabletop, and pihole. I've been using basic docker containers in a Debian distro.

 

I'm interested in moving over to kubernetes partly for learning, but also to avoid downtime issues when I mess with something. Primarily, I'd like to use it to run pihole, ubiquiti controller, VPN and security stuff, such that even when my NAS serv er is down, I can use the internet and get into my network from the outside world and all that. Let's say I already have one machine that is a pretty powerful home server...Xeon E5, 128 GB RAM, that sort of thing. I will virtualize a NAS os on that one. I can also use it to run a K8s master server. How many other machines do i need to purchase if I want to run kubernetes for availability, and what kind of machines need they be (i.e., can they be Pis? NUCs?).

 

Note that I understand I can just virtualize [x] machines on my existing hardware. However, to me that seems to defeat the purpose of K8s. Is that the wrong way to be thinking about it? Thanks in advance for the help!

[Levent]

You can pretty much introduce as many other hardware you want. Anything goes as long as you can run your containerization service (and kubernetes) on top of it. RAM can be the limiting factor IIRC I had issues running K8 nodes on systems with less than 4G ram but I wouldnt even call my self a novice with containerization and orchestration.

[rarifiedbovine]

27 minutes ago, Levent said:

You can pretty much introduce as many other hardware you want. Anything goes as long as you can run your containerization service (and kubernetes) on top of it. RAM can be the limiting factor IIRC I had issues running K8 nodes on systems with less than 4G ram but I wouldnt even call my self a novice with containerization and orchestration.

Based on my use-cases (k3s agents for pihole, unifi controller, home automation, and a couple other services), do you think 4GB or 8GB would be enough? And processor requirements I should be thinking about?

[Levent]

26 minutes ago, rarifiedbovine said:

Based on my use-cases (k3s agents for pihole, unifi controller, home automation, and a couple other services), do you think 4GB or 8GB would be enough? And processor requirements I should be thinking about?

If we are talking about RPI, get which ever you can find. However, 8G RPIs are over priced where I am at and I would rather get an old 1155/1150 system instead (assuming power is not a problem).

[igormp]

Keep in mind that having a multi arch cluster can be troublesome, and you'll need to guarantee to have both arm and x86_64 images for all of your containers.

 

2 physical machines should be more than enough for what you want, with an 8gb pi being a reasonable choice.