Should server node be on different server than agent nodes, and how to achieve that?

Question

I need advice for k3s architecture. I would like to create small cluster with one master and 3 agent nodes, but in my opinion master node should be in separate server so it have resources only for itself. But I can't see in k3s documentation --disable-agent anymore, and I read that it is buggy so they removed it, so I am wondering how can I have only server setup on one node and is it a good practice at all?

Answer 1

Having master node separated is a typical architecture that Kubernetes utilizes since it runs all the vital components (API Server, Controller manager, etcd and scheduler) necessary to manage your cluster. So it a good idea to have it running on another node (In K8s it is the only way although it is possible to schedule pods on master node if you untaint it)

Here`s a good article about having multinode k3 cluster that relates to your desire state.

Alternative way would be to a solution suggested in this github issue related to --disable-agent and taint the master with NoExecute key.