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A three-node K3s homelab tests production patterns only when you decide what each machine does. Three K3s servers running embedded etcd give you a control plane that keeps quorum when one server fails. One server with two agents gives you a workload cluster, but its control plane depends on that single server. Both setups have three machines, and they behave very differently under failure.
Start with node roles, not machine count
K3s has two node roles. A server runs k3s server and hosts the control-plane components and the datastore that K3s manages. An agent runs k3s agent and does not run those components. Servers and agents both run the kubelet, a container runtime, and a CNI plugin, which is why agents can run workloads without holding cluster state (K3s Architecture documentation).
A single-server install uses embedded SQLite as its datastore, and agents join by pointing at the server URL with a token. The K3s Quick-Start Guide states that “A single-node server installation is a fully-functional Kubernetes cluster,” and it directs readers who need several servers to the high-availability guides (K3s Quick-Start Guide).
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Three machines is not the same as three-server HA
High availability for the control plane in K3s means embedded etcd across three or more server nodes. The K3s HA documentation says the server count should be odd. With quorum defined as (n/2)+1, a fourth server does not raise the number of failures the group can tolerate over three, so a three-server group tolerates one lost server and still keeps quorum (K3s High Availability Embedded etcd documentation).
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The layouts you can build from three machines differ as follows:
| Layout | Roles | Datastore | Control-plane failure behavior | Production patterns it exercises well |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One server, two agents | 1 server, 2 agents | Embedded SQLite (single-server default) | Losing the server takes the API down until it returns; agents do not hold cluster state | Scheduling, rolling deployments, ingress, node drains on agents |
| Three embedded-etcd servers | 3 servers, optional agents | Embedded etcd | One server can fail while quorum holds | Control-plane failover, etcd health, server-by-server upgrades, recovery from a lost member |
Name the layout you actually run. A cluster with one server and two agents is a three-node cluster but not a three-server HA design. Only the second layout can show what happens to the API when a control-plane node disappears.
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The K3s requirements page lists baseline minimums of 2 CPU cores and 2 GB RAM for a server, and 1 core and 512 MB RAM for an agent. The page is undated in the version reviewed. These figures exclude workload consumption, so treat them as a floor for the K3s processes, not a sizing guarantee for your applications (K3s Requirements documentation).
Storage matters more than the CPU numbers suggest. The same page says database performance affects cluster performance and recommends SSDs. It also recommends an external SSD for Raspberry Pi and other ARM devices because etcd is write intensive. The HA documentation adds that embedded etcd may have performance issues on slower disks, including Raspberry Pi SD cards.
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Before you buy or repurpose hardware, check these points:
- Each server has an SSD, or an external SSD for ARM boards, and that disk is not shared with heavy workloads.
- Each server has enough RAM for its K3s processes plus the workloads you plan to schedule on it.
- The three servers have the same K3s version, so upgrades can be staged one node at a time.
- Clocks are synchronized on all nodes. Certificates and etcd leader elections both depend on accurate time.
Network ports and exposure
K3s documents the following ports for a multi-node cluster. Requirements change with the CNI and optional features you enable, so verify them against your configuration.
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| Port | Protocol | Between | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6443 | TCP | Agents and servers | Supervisor and Kubernetes API |
| 8472 | UDP | All nodes | Flannel VXLAN overlay |
| 2379 | TCP | Servers | Embedded etcd client traffic |
| 2380 | TCP | Servers | Embedded etcd peer traffic |
K3s warns that the VXLAN port should not be exposed to the world. Keep it on a private segment or behind a firewall, and keep the API port off public routes unless you deliberately publish it. The kubeconfig K3s writes to /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml grants cluster access, so restrict who can read it.
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K3s ships several components by default: containerd, Flannel as the CNI, CoreDNS, Traefik as ingress, ServiceLB, network policy support, local-path-provisioner, and the Spegel distributed registry mirror (K3s overview documentation). Every default you keep becomes part of what you test. Disabling or replacing one is a design choice that should be recorded.
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- Traefik: keep it if your ingress tests should match K3s defaults; disable it with
--disable traefikif you run a different ingress controller. - local-path-provisioner: convenient, but it provisions node-local storage. A volume does not follow a pod to another node, so it cannot test replicated storage behavior.
- Flannel: the default overlay. Replacing it changes the port and firewall requirements above.
- Spegel: a local registry mirror. Note it in your test notes so image pull results are not confused with direct registry pulls.
Build order for the three-server layout
- Write down the role of each machine, the K3s version, and the datastore choice before installing anything.
- Prepare the three machines with fixed addresses, synchronized clocks, SSD storage, and the firewall rules listed above.
- Install the first server following the Quick-Start Guide, and add the
--cluster-initflag to start embedded etcd instead of SQLite. The installer configures the service to restart after reboots or process failures. - Read the join token from
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/node-tokenon the first server. - Join the second and third servers with
k3s server --server https://<first-server-ip>:6443 --token <token>. Use the same K3s version on every server. - Verify the cluster with
sudo k3s kubectl get nodes. Expected result: three server nodes in theReadystate. - Add agents with
k3s agent --server https://<server-ip>:6443 --token <token>if you want separate workload capacity.
Failure tests that show the difference
A three-server cluster earns its complexity only if you test it. Run these checks after each change:
- Server loss: stop one server and confirm that
kubectl get nodesstill answers and that new deployments schedule. Expected result with quorum intact: the API stays available. - Two-server loss: stop a second server. Expected result: quorum is lost and writes to the API fail until a server returns. This confirms the failure tolerance in the table above rather than assuming it.
- Rolling deployment: change an image and watch the rollout complete without dropped requests on your test endpoint.
- Node drain: drain an agent with its workloads and confirm pods reschedule where their storage allows.
- Upgrade: upgrade one server at a time, checking node status between steps.
What a three-node homelab cannot show
Three small machines on one site do not reproduce multi-zone failure, cloud load balancers, or cluster sizes that stress the control plane. Use the homelab to test mechanisms and operational habits: quorum behavior, rollout safety, firewall discipline, and restore procedures. Do not use its latency or throughput numbers to predict production capacity, because the K3s requirements figures describe minimums, not measured performance on any particular hardware.
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