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Running kubernetes in your homelab is a fantastic way to learn, explore, express yourself, and run services that you use.
- You want to learn kubernetes
- You like kubernetes
- You want to learn to scale
There are also the-wrong-reasons-to-run-kubernetes-in-your-homelab
You want to learn kubernetes #
Homelabbing is a such a great way to learn new skills, deploy real apps that you use. Create new custom apps for your specific use cases that no one else has. You should absolutely run kubernetes in your homelab if you want to learn it.
I would recommend to start locally, pull up kind, minikube, or k3d and start from your local machine before putting it on a server.
When you decide you are ready for a server, you probably don't need any crazy hardware. You can probably run on some old retired Dell Optiplex or an old desktop someone is throwing out as it no longer runs windows.
You like kubernetes #
Hell Yeah Brother, 100% no better reason to run kubernetes at home than because you enjoy it. I'm with you. There's nothing quite like having git ops kick in and deploy new services, updates, watching deployments rollover with zero downtime. Watching your cluster heal itself when a node goes down. Never ssh-ing in to do deployments. Still owning your entire hardware.
You want to learn to scale #
Don't claim that you need scale in your homelab, you don't. But it sure is fun to run a cluster of nodes, and load balancing services that run across them. Solving these hard problems to scale across machines is hard. There's no way around it, there's a lot to think about. Doing so in a low stakes environment that you have skin in the game is a great way to learn.