What's the best load balancer for a private K8s cluster?

June 17, 2025 5 answers
Asked by CloudySky33
I'm setting up a multi-master Kubernetes cluster on-premises and I'm curious about load balancing. I know major cloud providers like Azure and AWS have their own solutions, but what do you all recommend for an on-premises setup? Should the load balancer run on a separate machine? Would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks!

Answers

K8sNewbie29
Quick question: does the load balancer just redirect requests to the API server on one of the master nodes? Is it really necessary if you only have a single master?
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CoderDude77
I've also used MetalLB in BGP mode, and it definitely does the job. Alternatively, some folks prefer HAProxy for its robust features and flexibility.
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TechGuru82
MetalLB is a popular choice for load balancing in on-prem Kubernetes clusters. It's designed specifically for this scenario, and many users have had success with it.
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NetworkNinja17
I personally use MetalLB with BGP mode, and it's been working great for managing traffic effectively to my API servers.
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K8sWhiz123
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