Kubernetes Infra
I wanted to utilize my DevOps knowledge and freely deploy multiple services on my own server, so I used a Kubernetes environment. The main focus was cost, as most Kubernetes services are paid and have very high base prices.
Home Server (feat. Mac mini)
One of the cheapest ways to set up K8s is to purchase and use a server like a mini PC. While the initial purchase cost may be high, after that, you only need to pay for electricity, which saves costs.
The reason I use a Mac mini is because it has good power efficiency and relatively low noise and heat generation. If I had more personal space, I might have bought a Linux server, but since I have to keep the server in a shared living space, I chose this option.
However, a major disadvantage I've experienced since buying the Mac mini is being forced into a virtualization environment to configure K8s. Currently, I'm using Colima to set up the virtualization environment.
The advantages are that it's easy to remotely control from a MacBook1, you can use the macOS ecosystem and services as-is, and it can be repurposed for other uses later.
Cloud Server
Originally, I planned to operate the entire K8s with just the home server. However, in early 2025, I experienced the home server going down due to power outages and other incidents, and ultimately decided that a cloud environment was necessary for continuous service.
The cloud environment I primarily used is Oracle Kubernetes Engine. Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE) can be configured very cheaply for the following reasons:
- No charge for the Control Plane. This is a big difference compared to major cloud platforms like AWS, which charge $0.1 per hour just for the base cluster cost.
- Provides a Free Tier. When using A1 Ampere instances, up to 24Gi of memory is free.
To avoid potential restrictions from the Free Tier, I configured two 13Gi nodes and pay a small additional fee. Besides OKE, Vultr is also a good choice. While there are no free VMs, it's affordable, and again, there's no charge for the Control Plane.
Windows (Optional)
If you use Windows, you can configure K8s using Hyper-V, VMWare, VirtualBox, etc. Occasionally, I use VMWare to spin up virtual machines and utilize them for K8s-related testing.
- After logging into Broadcom, you can install VMWare Workstation Pro from this link.
- You can download Ubuntu images here.