m6a.metal as an EKS node
192 vCPU768 GiBx86_64AMD EPYC 7R13 ProcessorAWS us-east-1M6A Metal
Where the m6a.metal goes
Default EKS setup: EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit).
CPU191.25 of 192 vCPU left for your pods
Memory759.44 GiB of 768 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
737max pods per node
$6,054.91on demand / month · $8.29/h
$1,558.73spot / month (varies)
m6a.metal EKS max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a m6a.metal run as a node with EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit)? Up to 737; kubelet keeps 8462 MiB of memory and 550m CPU, leaving 759.74 GiB and 191.45 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a m6a.metal run as a node with EKS, prefix delegation? Up to 250; kubelet keeps 3105 MiB of memory and 550m CPU, leaving 764.97 GiB and 191.45 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 382 per node after DaemonSets; 1 nodes for 10 replicas, about $6,054.91/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on m6a.metal
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit) secondary IPs per ENI | 737 | 550m | 8362 Mi + 100 Mi | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 98.9% |
| EKS, prefix delegation ENABLE_PREFIX_DELEGATION=true | 250 | 550m | 3005 Mi + 100 Mi | 191.45 | 764.97 GiB | 99.6% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. How many subnet IPs a m6a.metal takes with the VPC CNI: EKS max pods and IP calculator. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one m6a.metal
Assumes DaemonSets (CNI, kube-proxy, log and metrics agents) request 200m CPU, 300 Mi and 3 pods per node. Try your own numbers in the node calculator.
| Pod requests (CPU / memory) | EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit) | EKS, prefix delegation | $ per pod / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100m / 128 Mi | 734 | 247 | $8.25 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 734 | 247 | $8.25 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 734 | 247 | $8.25 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 382 | 247 | $15.85 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 382 | 247 | $15.85 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 191 | 191 | $31.70 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 191 | 191 | $31.70 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 95 | 95 | $63.74 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 47 | 47 | $128.83 |
Similar EKS node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m6a.48xlarge | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 737 | $6,054.91 | $7.97 |
| m8g.48xlarge | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 737 | $6,290.38 | $8.28 |
| m8g.metal-48xl | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 737 | $6,290.38 | $8.28 |
| m9g.48xlarge | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 751.39 GiB | 1514 | $6,856.63 | $9.13 |
| m9g.metal-48xl | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 751.39 GiB | 1514 | $6,856.63 | $9.13 |
| m7i.48xlarge | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 737 | $7,064.06 | $9.30 |
| m7i.metal-48xl | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 759.74 GiB | 737 | $7,064.06 | $9.30 |
| m8i.48xlarge | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 751.39 GiB | 1514 | $7,417.27 | $9.87 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| d192sv6 | 192 | 768 | 189.98 | 762.97 GiB | 250 | $7,064.21 | $9.26 |
| c3-standard-192-metal | 192 | 768 | 191.45 | 745.78 GiB | 110 | $7,064.34 | $9.47 |
| d192dsv6 | 192 | 768 | 189.98 | 762.97 GiB | 250 | $8,730.80 | $11.44 |
| d192sv7 | 192 | 768 | 189.98 | 762.97 GiB | 250 | $9,271.73 | $12.15 |
| d192dsv7 | 192 | 768 | 189.98 | 762.97 GiB | 250 | $11,433.99 | $14.99 |
| c4d-standard-192 | 192 | 744 | 191.45 | 722.26 GiB | 110 | $6,622.24 | $9.17 |