Proxmox and Kubernetes: What’s the Best Setup for a Home Lab?

Using Proxmox does add an extra layer to manage, but it also gives you flexibility. For instance, with virtualization, you can create multiple nodes on a single device, and snapshots are an awesome feature for backups. While Proxmox is useful, it can be a bit much for beginners; consider starting with a simpler setup and exploring other tools like kind for multi-node practice without heavy hardware requirements. KodeKloud is excellent for Kubernetes, but I’d suggest focusing on specific resources tailored to your learning.

Proxmox allows you to scale easily by adding more workers or masters, which is great for experimentation. For visualization, I suggest Lens—it’s user-friendly. Kubernetes handles failures by moving workloads automatically to ensure minimal disruption. The specific service type you use will dictate how external traffic is handled.

Running Kubernetes on Proxmox is actually quite common and can simplify management. You can definitely put Kubernetes in a VM without issue; many nodes in production use virtualization. As for the GUI, while Portainer has some Kubernetes features, it’s limited. Instead, I’d recommend using kubectl to learn the commands directly, and for visualization, give k9s a try—it's pretty intuitive! Regarding traffic management, that's Kube-Proxy's job within the cluster. If a node fails, Kubernetes reschedules the workload seamlessly. Don’t overlook learning through command-line tools as it’s the best way to truly understand Kubernetes.