I've been using MetalLB in BGP mode with my home router (OPNsense) for a while now, and it's been working well with a VIP allocated to nginx-ingress. Lately, I had to revisit my setup for some updates and came across some of the new features in Calico. I noticed that Calico now has a BGPConfiguration for managing BGP and even supports IP Address Management (IPAM) for LoadBalancer services. This got me wondering, do I still need MetalLB, or can Calico cover the same functionality? Are there any hidden issues or trade-offs I should be aware of if I decide to remove MetalLB to simplify my cluster and free up some resources?
1 Answer
You actually might not need MetalLB anymore if your goal is just to route services from outside the cluster. Calico has gotten pretty robust with its BGP options, so it can handle the routing well on its own.
What's the long answer, though? Could there be scenarios where having MetalLB is still beneficial?