How it began #
My homelab obsession started the same way most do - a YouTube rabbit hole at 2am. I was watching videos of engineers building compact Kubernetes clusters when I realized I had most of the hardware sitting in a box already. Four Raspberry Pi 4s, a cheap unmanaged switch, and a pile of ethernet cables.
What I didn’t have was a plan. Or a rack. Or really any idea what I was getting into.
This is Part 1 of that journey - the hardware decisions, the physical build, and everything I wish I’d known before I started zip-tying cables to a shelf bracket.
The Goal #
Before buying anything, I set a clear requirement: build a production-grade Kubernetes cluster that runs 24/7, fits on a desk, costs under $500 total, and actually teaches me something about how enterprise infrastructure works at a small scale.
The end state I was targeting:
- 1x Control Plane node
- 3x Worker nodes
- Clean cable management
- 10-inch mini-rack form factor
- Single power strip, no power brick chaos
The Hardware #
Raspberry Pi 4 #
The obvious choice for a budget ARM cluster. I went with four Pi 4B units - one 4GB model for the control plane and three 8GB models for the workers. The 8GB models matter for Kubernetes worker nodes because pod scheduling needs headroom above what the OS consumes.
Each Pi runs off a dedicated USB-C power cable routed back to a single multi-port Anker power brick mounted behind the rack.
MicroSD Cards #
256GB Samsung Pro Endurance cards. The “Pro Endurance” line matters here - standard MicroSD cards are rated for consumer read/write cycles and will fail within months under continuous Kubernetes etcd writes. The endurance series is designed for dashcam and surveillance workloads which have a similar sustained write profile.
Netgear GS308PP Switch #
8-port unmanaged PoE+ switch. The PoE capability was originally planned to power the Pis directly over ethernet, eliminating USB-C power cables entirely. In practice, the Pi 4’s USB-C power requirements don’t play well with 802.3af PoE without a HAT, so I ended up using it purely as a dumb switch. Still a solid piece of hardware - zero configuration, zero maintenance.
The 10-Inch Mini-Rack #
The GeekPi 8U 10-inch server cabinet. Compact, stackable, and just large enough to fit four Pi nodes, a switch, and a patch panel with room to spare. If I were doing this again I’d go 12-inch for the extra breathing room, but the 10-inch works.
The Physical Build #
Assembly order matters more than most people think. I learned this the hard way after having to tear everything apart twice.
The order that actually works:
- Mount the switch at the top
- Run all ethernet patch cables before mounting nodes
- Mount Pi nodes bottom to top
- Route power cables last along the back rail
- Label everything before closing up
Cable management on a 10-inch rack is an exercise in patience. Every centimeter counts. I used flat ethernet cables and right-angle USB-C adapters to keep things tight.
Current State #
The physical rack is complete. All four nodes power on, get DHCP leases from the Linksys router, and are reachable via SSH from my WSL terminal.
In Part 2 we’ll cover OS provisioning - flashing Debian, configuring hostnames, disabling WiFi, and getting the kernel cgroup parameters set correctly for Kubernetes.