t2.xlarge as an EKS node
4 vCPU16 GiBx86_64Intel Xeon FamilyAWS us-east-1T2 Extra Large
Where the t2.xlarge goes
Default EKS setup: EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit).
CPU3.72 of 4 vCPU left for your pods
Memory14.89 GiB of 16 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
44max pods per node
$135.49on demand / month · $0.1856/h
$59.07spot / month (varies)
t2.xlarge EKS max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a t2.xlarge run as a node with EKS, VPC CNI default (ENI limit)? Up to 44; kubelet keeps 839 MiB of memory and 80m CPU, leaving 15.18 GiB and 3.92 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a t2.xlarge run as a node with EKS, prefix delegation? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 1565 MiB of memory and 80m CPU, leaving 14.47 GiB and 3.92 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 7 per node after DaemonSets; 2 nodes for 10 replicas, about $270.98/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on t2.xlarge
| 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 | 44 | 80m | 739 Mi + 100 Mi | 3.92 | 15.18 GiB | 94.9% |
| EKS, prefix delegation ENABLE_PREFIX_DELEGATION=true | 110 | 80m | 1465 Mi + 100 Mi | 3.92 | 14.47 GiB | 90.4% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. How many subnet IPs a t2.xlarge 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 t2.xlarge
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 | 37 | 37 | $3.66 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 14 | 14 | $9.68 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 14 | 14 | $9.68 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 7 | 7 | $19.36 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 7 | 7 | $19.36 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 3 | 3 | $45.16 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 3 | 3 | $45.16 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 1 | 1 | $135.49 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
Similar EKS node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| t4g.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $98.11 | $6.53 |
| t3a.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $109.79 | $7.30 |
| m6g.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $112.42 | $7.48 |
| m7g.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $119.14 | $7.93 |
| t3.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $121.47 | $8.08 |
| m5a.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $125.56 | $8.35 |
| m6a.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $126.14 | $8.39 |
| m8g.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $131.05 | $8.72 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e2-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 110 | $97.84 | $7.35 |
| d4psv6 | 4 | 16 | 3.86 | 11.90 GiB | 250 | $102.20 | $8.59 |
| n4a-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 110 | $112.42 | $8.45 |
| t2a-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 110 | $112.42 | $8.45 |
| d4psv5 | 4 | 16 | 3.86 | 11.90 GiB | 250 | $112.42 | $9.45 |
| n2d-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 110 | $123.36 | $9.27 |