Hey folks! I'm exploring the best way to set up a homelab. Should I go with a bare metal Kubernetes installation, or would it be better to use Proxmox and run Kubernetes in virtual machines? My main goal is to run everything inside Kubernetes, so leaning towards bare metal seems appealing. What are your thoughts and experiences on this? Thanks for any advice!
5 Answers
Ultimately, if you have the option for a dedicated bare metal server or something like a Raspberry Pi, that would be great. If you don't, Proxmox is a solid backup. It really depends on your goals - if you just want to test configurations, you might even get away with a lightweight setup like K3s or MicroK8s on a personal laptop.
It really boils down to what you're aiming to learn or experiment with. If you're just starting, a VM setup with Docker could work well. Once you're comfortable, you might want to dive into K3s or Kubernetes itself. It really depends on your experience level and what you want to gain from the homelab setup.
If your goal is strictly to run everything in Kubernetes without needing VMs, then bare metal might be the best call. Proxmox adds overhead and complexity that you might not need right now.
For most practical applications, running Kubernetes in a Proxmox VM cluster is the way to go. This reflects real-world scenarios more closely and allows you to take full advantage of K8s features that a single bare metal setup wouldn't let you explore.
In my case, I use Proxmox because I have several running services that are safer in dedicated VMs. Additionally, I have more nodes in my cluster than I have physical machines available, so this setup works best for me. Bare metal could offer better performance, but I love the flexibility VMs give me.
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