RKE2 and Rancher
RKE2 is SUSE's hardened Kubernetes distribution: FIPS-capable, CIS-benchmark defaults and a single binary that is easy to automate. Rancher on top manages many clusters, users and policies from one console.
We use RKE2 for on-prem and regulated environments and Rancher where a business runs several clusters across sites or clouds.
At a glance
| RKE2 | Embedded etcd, containerd, Canal/Cilium/Calico CNI, CIS hardening |
|---|---|
| Rancher | Multi-cluster management, RBAC, Fleet GitOps, monitoring |
| Platforms | Bare metal, Proxmox, VMware, any cloud |
| Support | SUSE Rancher Prime available for enterprise |
What RackLedge does
- RKE2 cluster build and hardening
- Rancher install and cluster import
- Fleet-based GitOps across clusters
- Upgrades and certificate rotation
How we work
Every cluster we build starts from Git. Infrastructure as code creates the cluster, Flux or Argo CD reconciles everything inside it, and no change reaches production without a pull request. That is what makes a rebuild after a bad day a matter of hours instead of weeks.
Operations are the product: monitoring with alerts that mean something, backups of cluster state and persistent volumes, upgrades on a quarterly cadence and an on-call engineer who already knows the environment. We run production Kubernetes for our own platforms, so the runbooks are ones we use ourselves.
We are honest about fit. A handful of stable services on a couple of VMs does not need Kubernetes, and we will say so. Teams that ship weekly, need to scale or run many services get real value from it.
Related services
More on kubernetes
Frequently asked questions
RKE2 or k3s?
k3s for edge and small footprints. RKE2 for production servers where hardening and full conformance matter.
Need a hand with this?
Tell us what you are running and what is slowing you down. You get a straight assessment and a plan, with no obligation. Support desk is staffed 24/7.