System requirements for installing a private location on a three-node cluster

Review the system requirements before you install a private location on a three-node cluster.

Required number of hosts

For three-node environments, you need three hosts with the same operating system. popctl supports only the Linux x86_64 operating system.

Hardware requirements

In a three-node cluster:

  • The first node (leader node) runs the K3s server (control plane).
  • All three nodes (leader, instana-1, instana-2) are available for running private location workloads.

Kubernetes automatically schedules the private location components (controller, playback engines, Redis) across the available nodes based on resource availability. Kubernetes does not assign specific components to specific nodes.

For a three-node production deployment (Small installation), the Kubernetes cluster must meet the following minimum requirements:

Table 1. Minimum requirements for a three-node private location cluster (Small installation)
Resource Requirement
Worker nodes 3
CPU 12 cores
Memory 11.7 GB
Disk space 100 GB per node

The Small installation profile defines these requirements, which support:

  • 2000 API Simple tests
  • 20 API Script tests
  • 5 Browser Script tests
  • 2000 ISM tests (SSL/DNS)

The actual resource allocation per node depends on your workload and how you distribute the private location components across the nodes. For detailed capacity planning, see the private location capacity planning and scaling documentation. It also describes scaling options and other installation sizes (XSmall, Medium, Large).

Storage requirements

Each node in the three-node cluster requires a minimum of 100 GB disk space as specified in the Small installation profile.

popctl uses K3s with the local-path-provisioner for dynamic storage provisioning. Kubernetes automatically creates persistent volumes on each node’s local disk as needed, without requiring pre-configured disks or mount points.

Important:
Monitor the storage volume that you initially assigned for approximately 1 month. Increase the capacity if necessary.

For detailed disk space requirements, see the private location capacity planning and scaling documentation. It also includes capacity planning for different installation sizes (XSmall, Small, Medium, Large).

Networking requirements

Note:
Use a high-speed, low-latency, and stable connection on the PoP server to pull the necessary packages.

Make sure the following requirements are met:

  • SSH access: The leader node must have passwordless SSH access to worker nodes. See Setup instructions for setup instructions.
  • Internal traffic: All nodes must be able to communicate with each other on the same private network.

The three nodes of your multi-node cluster must meet the following IP address requirements:

  • All three nodes must have a private IP address on the same private VLAN to communicate with each other.
  • The leader node must also have an IP address for external communication. You use this address to reach the hosts from outside the cluster.
  • Provide IP addresses in this order: leader node IP, instana-1 IP, instana-2 IP.

What's next

To prepare your environment, see Setup instructions.