What mini pc do You reccomend?

[bktpl]

Hello, i am looking for 3 devices to build proxmox HA lab, it will not be much used anyway. Please let me know where did You buy your equipment and how much did You pay? What network cards should i avoid. Should i know any details about problems on some platforms?
I am from Poland and ill try to buy it locally here.
Anyway, if it is possible ill look for 2xlan devices.
Also i will need some switch (platform must be ultra quiet and small) and or network devices.
Thank You very much for Your help.

UPS i forgot, maybe some OT mini stations from ali will be ok?

 

[LnxBil]

it will not be much used anyway.

Then why don't you virtualize your cluster? Costs nothing and you can test everything.

Hardware for a real cluster with built in redundancy is expensive.

 

[XMarcR]

look for Chuwi LarkBox X 2023.

https://de.chuwi.com/products/larkbox-x

 

[jaybod]

look for used ex business grade mini PC's on ebay or similar.

 

[louie1961]

I spun up 5 VMs in my Proxmox host and used them for my K3S cluster using the k3sup script. When I am ready to go with physical hardware I am strongly leaning towards these

https://www.gmktec.com/products/amd...7345ec-b381-4f76-83dc-9cb6156546ee.header_1.1

 

[esi_y]

Then why don't you virtualize your cluster? Costs nothing and you can test everything.

Hardware for a real cluster with built in redundancy is expensive.

+1 with this piece of advice, completely able to run 6-12 PVE nodes virtually on single i3 mini PC from 5+ years ago. Of course mostly with LXCs. Basically just put in 16G+ RAM. You have your learning environment in no time.

EDIT: My deployment is typically with libvirt, just to not go crazy. And it actually nicely allows you to abstract external router, i.e. VyOS as well.

 

[bktpl]

Then why don't you virtualize your cluster? Costs nothing and you can test everything.

Hardware for a real cluster with built in redundancy is expensive.

what do You exactly mean by "virtualize my cluster"? Do You mean nested virtualization and proxmox as a guest?
To be honest, i prefer phisical but small devices. I want to learn k8s and play with it. Of course ill use 3-4 vms for some not very performance needed apps/tools at the begginig, by writing it will be not much used i wanted to say that it willl be not used to build for example some learning platform for other people to learn something on it.
Anyway, i do not have place right now even for PC-like server even small tower.

 

[louie1961]

what do You exactly mean by "virtualize my cluster"?

If you are already running Proxmox, just spin up 3-5 VMs to act as nodes in a Kubernetes cluster. Install whatever flavor of Kubernetes you want to experiment with on those VMs. If you want HA, you need three VMs to run the control plane. and two VMs to run the worker nodes. I say three to 5 because honestly you can do Kubernetes using fewer nodes if you don't need HA. I run one control plane node and two worker nodes in my personal set up.

Either way, using VMs to run the kubernetes software will behave almost exactly like having physical machines, and allow you to get experience with Kubernetes

 

[LnxBil]

Do You mean nested virtualization and proxmox as a guest?

Yes.

To be honest, i prefer phisical but small devices. I want to learn k8s and play with it.

And why do you ask in a Proxmox VE forum if you're not planing to use PVE? If it's just k8s, buy used PI 3s. Small, sufficient and don't break the bank.

Anyway, i do not have place right now even for PC-like server even small tower.

The rent a server or multiple online, which should be cheaper than buying a couple of mini PCs