What
-
K3s is a lightweight
Kubernetes distribution designed for
resource-constrained environments, such as edge computing, IoT, or
single-node clusters.
K3s Architecture
-
K3s retains the concept of master (also called server nodes) and worker
(also called agent nodes), similar to
Kubernetes.
However, it simplifies the architecture by removing some components and using lightweight alternatives.
Read differences below and Check kubernets Architecture
Difference in k3s and Kubernets Architecture
| kubernets | k3s | |
|---|---|---|
| Server / Master Node |
Deamons in server node: API server Controller manager Scheduler etcd |
Deamons in server node: API server(same) Controller manager(same) Scheduler(same) SQLite or etcd(K3s replaces etcd with SQLite by default for single-node clusters to reduce resource usage) |
| Agent Nodes / Worker Nodes |
Deamons in worker node: Kubelet Kube-proxy Container runtime (Docker) |
Deamons in worker node: Kubelet Kube-proxy Container runtime (containerd or CRI-O) |
| Single-Node Clusters |
No Requires separate master and worker nodes installation for high availability. |
Yes K3s is often deployed as a single-node cluster, where 1 node acts as both a server (control plane) and agent (worker) |
| High Availability (HA) | multiple master and worker nodes | same |