Installing decoupled

In a decoupled AZ layout, storage and workload run on separate Kubernetes clusters. Dedicated storage clusters can serve one or more workload clusters. This model fits performance-sensitive workloads, shared storage across AZs, and production multi-tier designs.

Part of the deployment guide. For storage and compute on the same nodes, see Installing hyperconverged.

When to choose decoupled

Performance: dedicated hardware for Ceph and hypervisor tiers without resource contention.
Shared storage: multiple workload AZs consume the same storage backend.
Multi-AZ at scale: pairs with a management plane on a dedicated management cluster.

See Deployment topology for the fully decoupled deployment type and support status.

Prerequisites

Talos clusters for storage and workload tiers (Manual OS installation or Automated OS installation).
The management plane installed with API access to every cluster.
Hardware sized per role. See Hardware requirements.

Supported deployment types

Currently, the only supported and tested installation method is fully decoupled (decoupled AZs with the management plane on a dedicated management cluster outside the AZ). See Deployment topology.

Installation overview

Provision a storage cluster and one or more workload clusters.
Register each with a Cluster resource (deploymentTopology: Decoupled, with type: Storage or type: Virtualization).
Connect workload clusters to storage backends.
Let the operator sync the Superphenix stack on each cluster.

Example workload `Cluster` resource

apiVersion: superphenix.net/v1alpha1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: az-paris-virt-1
  namespace: superphenix-system
spec:
  deploymentTopology: Decoupled
  type: Virtualization
  region: europe-west
  availabilityZone: paris-1
  connection:
    mode: Remote
    url: https://api.paris-virt-1.superphenix.net:6443
    secretRef:
      name: cluster-paris-virt-1-credentials
      namespace: superphenix-system
  version: v0.1.0
  repoURL: https://charts.superphenix.net
  chartName: superphenix-stack

Create a matching Cluster for the storage tier with type: Storage. See Configure a cluster for the full field reference.

Installing an AZ: overview of AZ installation paths.
Connecting clusters: storage and workload integration.