Your Kubernetes Cluster Doesn't Run etcd — Mine Doesn't Either
· 9 min read
Every Kubernetes tutorial mentions etcd. The architecture diagrams show a three-node etcd cluster with Raft consensus, leader election, and peer replication. If you run EKS, GKE, or AKS, that cluster exists somewhere — you just can never see it.
If you run k3s, you don't have etcd at all.
This post explains what k3s actually uses, what it means to manage backups and recovery yourself, and where that leaves you compared to a managed provider.