I'm considering setting up K3s on my Beelink Mini PC EQ14, which has an Intel Twin Lake N150 quad-core processor and 16GB of RAM. Although it's a low-powered device, I want to know if this could still be a good setup for a simple learning experience. Are there any blog posts or resources that could help me along the way?
5 Answers
I’d actually recommend skipping virtualization if you can, as it can add unnecessary overhead for a smaller machine like yours. Starting as a single node would be awesome for learning.
You might want to consider using Talos instead of K3s. It’s more streamlined and doesn’t come with all the extra stuff that a regular Linux installation has, which is great for simpler setups.
Starting with a single-node K3s environment is also a solid choice; you can find more about the architecture in the official docs here: https://docs.k3s.io/architecture.
Your Mini PC setup sounds perfect for experimenting with K3s! I’ve actually been running a 4-node K3s cluster using two Intel N100 mini PCs through Proxmox VMs for over a year without any hiccups. K3s is really lightweight and easy to set up, just remember to follow the official documentation for multi-node configuration and disable swap on your VMs. If you’re interested, I’ve shared my setup details on GitHub: https://github.com/TheTaqiTahmid/homeserver
K3s is definitely light and efficient! Just make sure that your physical storage speed on your master nodes is good enough for performance.
That sounds great! Thanks for sharing the link!