K3s cluster running on mini-PCs

K3s Cluster Setup on Refurbished Mini-PCs

You don’t need a cloud provider to run Kubernetes. You don’t need expensive servers. You need three mini-PCs and an afternoon. This is how I built my homelab cluster — the same cluster that runs my GitLab, monitoring, home automation, and everything else I refuse to trust to someone else’s computer. Why K3s? K3s is Kubernetes, simplified: Single binary — ~70MB, includes everything Low resource — Runs on Raspberry Pi, runs great on mini-PCs Production ready — Same API, same workloads, less overhead Batteries included — Built-in ingress, load balancer, storage It’s not “Kubernetes lite.” It’s Kubernetes without the enterprise cruft. ...

April 24, 2026 · 6 min read · Tom Meurs