Single Node Deployment

Single Node Deployment

The hardware foundation for Kubermatic Virtualization is multi-faceted, encompassing requirements for the Kubermatic
Virtualization (Kube-V) management layer, the KubeVirt infrastructure node that host virtual machines, in addition to various services that are running as part of the ecosystem.

Host Configuration

• CPU: A minimum of 8 CPU cores is suggested for testing environments. For production deployments, 16 CPU cores or more are recommended to accommodate multiple VMs and their workloads effectively. The host node must have Intel VT-x or AMD-V hardware virtualization extensions enabled in the BIOS/UEFI. This is a fundamental requirement for KubeVirt to leverage KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for efficient VM execution. Without this, KubeVirt can fall back to software emulation, but it’s significantly slower and not suitable for production HA.
• RAM: At least 8 GB RAM per node. Recommended: 16-32 GB, depending on the number and memory requirements of your VMs.
• Storage: SSDs or NVMe drives are highly recommended for good VM performance in addition to sufficient storage capacity based on the disk images of your VMs and any data they store.

Storage

• CSI Driver Capabilities (Crucial for HA/Live Migration): This is perhaps the most critical component for KubeVirt. You need a shared storage backend that supports ReadWriteMany (RWX) access mode or Block-mode (volumeMode: Block) volumes.
• Capacity: Sufficient storage capacity based on the disk images of your VMs and any data they store.
• Performance: SSDs or NVMe drives are highly recommended for good VM performance where high-throughput services, low-latency, high-IOPS storage (often block storage) is critical.

Networking

A well-planned and correctly configured network infrastructure is fundamental to the stability and performance of Kubermatic Virtualization. This includes considerations for IP addressing, DNS, load balancing, and inter-component communication.

• High-bandwidth, low-latency connections: 1 Gbps NICs are a minimum; 10 Gbps or higher is recommended for performance-sensitive workloads.
• DNS: DNS resolution is crucial for the Kube-V environment, enabling all nodes to find each other and external services. A potential conflict can arise if both the KubeVirt infrastructure and guest user clusters use NodeLocal DNSCache with the same default IP address, leading to DNS resolution issues for guest VMs. This can be mitigated by adjusting the dnsConfig and dnsPolicy of the guest VMs.