Low-maintenance edge server built with one SBC running Talos Kubernetes
The setup runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster on one Radxa Rock 5B single-board computer using Talos Linux, replacing a previous 3-node high-availability cluster for edge deployments meant for friends, family, or remote sites. A full 3-node HA setup with multiple SBCs, NVMe drives, and es was judged overkill and costly for a quiet, low-maintenance edge node. Talos is a fully — it has no SSH access, no like apt, and no way to make ad-hoc changes, which eliminates over time.
Ansible was dropped in favor of Flux CD: instead of pushing commands over SSH (which can fail mid-way and leave a node in a broken state), Flux pulls the desired from inside the cluster itself, making the setup more self-healing. Networking uses Cilium's L2 Gateway API, removing the need to manually map container ports to host ports as was done previously under Podman.
Key points
- Single-node Kubernetes cluster built on one Radxa Rock 5B SBC using Talos Linux
- Positioned as a cheaper, lower-maintenance alternative to a 3-node HA cluster for edge deployments
- Talos is — no SSH or apt access, so can't occur
- Flux CD replaces Ansible, pulling config from within the cluster instead of pushing over SSH
- Cilium's L2 Gateway API removes the need to manually map container ports to host ports