GoKawiilThis blog’s starter project can be found at github.com/qstarsit/hcloud-kube-hetzner
Kubernetes is a brilliant workload API, the community has built a highly extensible standard which abstracts the underlying machines and infrastructure from our application deployments. However, the cloud-native ecosystem can come with a sense of vendor lock-in. Functionality like managed load balancing, seamless node autoscaling, extensive storage options, integrated networking, and polished operational tooling are what you pay a premium for.
Running and operating Kubernetes yourself, “The Hard Way”, can be overwhelming, and time intensive. That’s why in this post, we’re taking a look at terraform-hcloud-kube-hetzner. An open-source Terraform project that simplifies deploying a production-ready K3s cluster on Hetzner Cloud, striking a balance between ease of use, reliability, and cost efficiency. All while keeping true to our European origin 🇪🇺.
Hetzner
Hetzner is a German infrastructure provider that has built a strong reputation for offering high-performance hardware at reasonable and predictable prices. With less features than hyperscalers they focus on doing few things very well. This has made them a popular hosting provider among indie hackers and startups alike.
Their Cloud offering has matured a lot in recent years and features a solid API to manage resources. It features private networking, load balancers, network attached storage and virtual machines. This makes it a solid alternative for teams looking for proper automation on a more cost-effective platform.
Hetzner operates modern data centers primarily in Europe, while also offering locations in the USA and Asia. In light of the recent focus on sovereign data centers, the fact that Hetzner is a German company adds reassurance around data sovereignty.
Kube-Hetzner
Kube-Hetzner is an optimized, easy-to-use terraform module to set up a (highly available) auto-upgraded cluster. It codifies many best practices required to run K3s reliably on Hetzner Cloud.
The project handles much of the heavy lifting involved in bootstrapping and maintaining a cluster: provisioning compute resources, configuring private networking, setting up load balancers, managing node pools, and wiring it all together. Upgrades are automated and rolling by default, reducing manual intervention and downtime during maintenance.
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