Microservices

TL;DR Today I deployed the most architecturally complex application on the cluster: a video service platform with a Vue.js frontend, 7 FastAPI backend microservices, NATS for messaging, PostgreSQL for persistence, and Redis for caching. This post covers the deployment patterns for NATS-based microservices on k3s and the RBAC fixes needed for Helm-based deployments. The Application Architecture The video service platform is a full microservices stack: ┌──────────────┐ │ Vue.js │ Frontend SPA │ Frontend │ └──────┬───────┘ │ HTTP/REST ┌──────┴───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ API Gateway │ └──────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ┌──────┴───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ FastAPI Microservices │ │ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ │ │ │Auth │ │Video│ │Media│ │Queue│ │ │ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │ │ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ │ │ │Stats│ │User │ │Notif│ │ │ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ ┌────┴────┐ ┌────┴────┐ ┌────┴────┐ │PostgreSQL│ │ NATS │ │ Redis │ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ Seven FastAPI services communicate via NATS for asynchronous messaging and Redis for shared state. PostgreSQL handles persistent data. ...

TL;DR Today I migrated Digital Signage — an Angular SPA backed by 7 Flask microservices, an MQTT broker, and PostgreSQL — from a development environment to the k3s cluster. This is the most complex application on the cluster so far, and deploying it taught me a lot about managing multi-service applications in Kubernetes. The Application Digital Signage started as a side project back in May 2025, designed to drive informational displays on Raspberry Pi kiosk devices. It evolved over the months into a surprisingly complex system: ...