Why Kubernetes Management Is Hard
Running production Kubernetes requires expertise most SMBs don't have in-house
No In-House Expertise
Hiring Kubernetes engineers costs €80,000+/year. Even then, you need multiple specialists for networking, storage, security, and monitoring. Most businesses can't justify dedicated platform teams.
Platform Maintenance Overhead
Kubernetes updates every 3 months. Security patches weekly. etcd backups. Certificate rotation. Monitoring setup. Node upgrades. Your team should focus on applications, not platform babysitting.
Cloud Costs Spiral out of Control
AWS EKS: $73/month control plane + expensive EC2 instances + $90/TB egress. Azure/GKE similar. Bills increase 20-30% annually. Vendor lock-in makes it hard to leave.
Own Network
Metrics Monitored
Uptime History
Years Experience
Production-Ready Managed Kubernetes
Complete infrastructure management with senior engineer support. €95/month base fee + pay-per-node pricing.
Platform Stack
- ✓ RKE2 Control Plane (3-master HA)
- ✓ Rancher UI
- ✓ Prometheus + Grafana monitoring
- ✓ Storage CSI (Longhorn/CEPH)
- ✓ ArgoCD (optional)
- ✓ Private Git Repo/Registry (optional)
We Manage
- ✓ Control plane & etcd backups
- ✓ Worker OS patches
- ✓ Kubernetes upgrades
- ✓ Certificate rotation
- ✓ 24/7 monitoring & alerting
- ✓ Scaling (add/remove nodes)
Expert Support
- ✓ Direct access to senior engineers
- ✓ No ticketing ping-pong
- ✓ No scripted responses
- ✓ 15+ years infrastructure experience
- ✓ 8x5 phone + Teams support
- ✓ One point of contact
Get Started in Minutes
Standard kubectl and Terraform workflows. Use Rancher UI or kubectl directly. No proprietary tools or lock-in.
# 1. Download kubeconfig from Rancher UI (yourcompany.rancher.zeroservices.eu)
# 2. Connect to your cluster
export KUBECONFIG=~/kubeconfig.yaml
kubectl cluster-info
# Deploy a production web application
kubectl create deployment webapp --image=nginx:latest --replicas=3
kubectl expose deployment webapp --port=80 --type=ClusterIP
# Create Ingress with HAProxy (included in cluster)
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
name: webapp-ingress
annotations:
kubernetes.io/ingress.class: haproxy
spec:
rules:
- host: webapp.yourcompany.com
http:
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
backend:
service:
name: webapp
port:
number: 80
EOF
# Check deployment status
kubectl get pods,svc,ingress# Configure provider with kubeconfig from Rancher
provider "kubernetes" {
config_path = "~/kubeconfig.yaml"
}
# Deploy production web application
resource "kubernetes_deployment_v1" "webapp" {
metadata {
name = "webapp"
labels = {
app = "webapp"
}
}
spec {
replicas = 3
selector {
match_labels = {
app = "webapp"
}
}
template {
metadata {
labels = {
app = "webapp"
}
}
spec {
container {
image = "nginx:latest"
name = "nginx"
port {
container_port = 80
}
}
}
}
}
}
# Create ClusterIP service
resource "kubernetes_service_v1" "webapp" {
metadata {
name = "webapp"
}
spec {
selector = {
app = "webapp"
}
port {
port = 80
target_port = 80
}
type = "ClusterIP"
}
}
# Create Ingress with HAProxy (included in cluster)
resource "kubernetes_ingress_v1" "webapp" {
metadata {
name = "webapp-ingress"
annotations = {
"kubernetes.io/ingress.class" = "haproxy"
}
}
spec {
rule {
host = "webapp.yourcompany.com"
http {
path {
path = "/"
path_type = "Prefix"
backend {
service {
name = "webapp"
port {
number = 80
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}Full Rancher UI access. Standard Kubernetes API. Use any tool you want: Helm, ArgoCD, Flux, kubectl, Terraform, Pulumi.
Nginx Ingress retiring March 2026. We use HAProxy Ingress (3.6x faster, zero-downtime reloads). Learn more about alternatives →
Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure
Built on enterprise hardware and carrier-grade networking. No consumer-grade shortcuts.
Network
- AS215197 - Own autonomous system
- 100Gbps Backbone - Cisco infrastructure
- DE-CIX, AMS-IX - Direct peering
- Multi-path - Redundant routing
Hardware
- Supermicro - Enterprise servers
- Kioxia NVMe - SSD storage
- CEPH NVMe - Distributed storage
- ECC RAM - Error correction
- Redundant PSU - Dual power feeds
- LACP bonding - Dual uplinks
Platform
- RKE2 v1.34.1 - CNCF conformant
- Tier III - Datacenter certification
- DE, NL, FI - EU datacenter locations
- GDPR Compliant - EU data residency
Every component matters. We don't cut corners on hardware, network, or operations.
15+ years building production infrastructure. German company, German engineering standards.
Simple, Transparent Pricing
€95/month management fee + worker nodes + storage/bandwidth you use. No per-IOPS charges. No per-request fees.
Worker Nodes
Custom configurations available: Memory-optimized (1:8 ratio), GPU-enabled, high-frequency CPUs, high-bandwidth (100 Gbps uplinks). All prices exclude VAT.
Storage
| CEPH (NVMe) | €0.06/GB/month |
| S3 (SATA) | €0.0075/GB/month |
Network
| Egress | €5.00/TB |
| Ingress | FREE |
Optional Add-ons
ArgoCD (GitOps)
Private Git/Container Registry
External Firewall (Cisco)
External Loadbalancer
Example: 3-Node Cluster
| 3× Small workers (4 vCPUs / 16 GB) | €267 |
| Management fee | €95 |
| 500 GB CEPH NVMe storage | €30 |
| 5 TB egress/month | €20 |
| Total: | €412/month |
Azure AKS equivalent: ~€851/mo* | Save 52%
ZERO-RKE vs Cloud Providers
Same cluster, less cost, better support
| Feature | ZERO-RKE | AWS EKS | Azure AKS | Google GKE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Node Cluster Total | €412/mo | ~€851/mo* | ~€852/mo* | ~€856/mo* |
| 3× Small workers + 500 GB storage + 5 TB egress/month - Breakdown below ↓ | ||||
| Control Plane | €95/mo (incl. monitoring) | €63/mo | Free** | €62/mo |
| 3× Workers (4 vCPUs / 16 GB each) | €267 | €360 | €360 | €366 |
| Storage (500 GB) | €30 | €43*** | €55*** | €43*** |
| Egress (5 TB/month) | €20 | €385 | €375 | €385 |
| Key Differentiators ↓ | ||||
| Monitoring | Included | Extra | Extra | Extra |
| Support Access | 8x5 phone + Teams (billed hourly) | Enterprise only | Extra | Extra |
| EU Data Residency | Always | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Vendor Lock-In | None | High | High | High |
*All competitor total prices converted from USD to EUR using exchange rate: 1 USD = 0.86 EUR (November 2025)
**Azure control plane free but requires Standard tier (€62/mo) for production SLA
***Cloud provider storage pricing excludes per-IOPS charges (AWS: €0.005-0.065/IOPS, Azure: €0.0005-0.12/IOPS, GKE: €0.06-0.18/IOPS). Zero Services has no per-IOPS or per-request fees—predictable flat-rate pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pricing depends on your compute and storage needs. Our cluster management fee is €95/month (includes monitoring, support, 1h management). Worker nodes start at €89/month for 4 vCPUs / 16 GB RAM. Scale from small development clusters to large production deployments with predictable, transparent pricing.
After initial consultation and requirements gathering, typical deployment timeline is 5–10 business days. This includes architecture design, control plane setup, worker nodes, Rancher UI, monitoring stack, and knowledge transfer. Emergency deployments possible within 24 hours when needed.
Yes. Add or remove worker nodes anytime. We handle the infrastructure changes. Your applications continue running (Kubernetes reschedules pods automatically).
Control plane (3-master HA), Rancher UI, HAProxy Ingress, Prometheus + Grafana monitoring + alerting, platform updates, 1 hour management time monthly, Access to 8x5 phone + Teams support.
GPU-enabled worker nodes available (NVIDIA A2000, A4000 Ada, A6000 Ada). Custom pricing based on GPU model. Useful for AI/ML inference, rendering, scientific computing.
Yes. We can deploy clusters across FRA1, FRA2, HEL1, EYL1 for geo-redundancy. Requires additional networking (MPLS backhaul recommended). Contact us for multi-DC design.
Yes. Most customers perform their own migrations using standard Kubernetes tools (kubectl, Helm, Terraform). We provide optional migration assistance including DNS cutover planning, workload migration strategy, and data migration support. Typical timeline: 1–2 weeks.
Latest stable RKE2 version (currently v1.34.1, based on Kubernetes 1.34). We follow upstream releases and provide upgrades quarterly during maintenance windows.
Yes, 12 months minimum. We offer discounts for 36-month commitments.
We maintain 99.99% uptime history across our infrastructure. Control plane is HA (3 masters), worker nodes can be spread across datacenters, redundant networking via AS215197.
Ready to Discuss Your Requirements?
Let's design the right Kubernetes infrastructure for your business