Node Types

Kubernetes has 2 type of nodes: control plane and worker nodes. K3S calls them “server” and “agent”, but they are the same concept.

What will vary between setup is how many of each there is:

• In a non managed production setup, there will typically be multiple control plane nodes for high availability. Worker nodes will scale according to what is needed.
• In a managed setup (EKS,GKE, AKS), the control plane nodes are fully managed - you only see worker nodes.
• In a single node setup (like minikube, or a KIND cluster), one machine plays both roles simultaneously. It’s enough for basic local development but not for more.
• In a homelab, 1 dedicated control planes and a couple of workers is good enough to practice something that looks close enough to a production environment.