a2-highgpu-1g as a GKE node
12 vCPU85 GiBx86_641 GPUGoogle Cloud us-central1A2 Highgpu 1g
Where the a2-highgpu-1g goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU11.70 of 12 vCPU left for your pods
Memory77.87 GiB of 85 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$539.82on demand / month · $0.7395/h
$323.91spot / month (varies)
a2-highgpu-1g GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a a2-highgpu-1g run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 7002 MiB of memory and 100m CPU, leaving 78.16 GiB and 11.90 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a a2-highgpu-1g run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2250 MiB of memory and 100m CPU, leaving 82.80 GiB and 11.90 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 23 per node after DaemonSets; 1 nodes for 10 replicas, about $539.82/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on a2-highgpu-1g
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 100m | 6902 Mi + 100 Mi | 11.90 | 78.16 GiB | 92.0% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 100m | 2150 Mi + 100 Mi | 11.90 | 82.80 GiB | 97.4% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one a2-highgpu-1g
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) | GKE ≤ 1.36 | GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) | $ per pod / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100m / 128 Mi | 107 | 107 | $5.05 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 46 | 46 | $11.74 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 46 | 46 | $11.74 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 23 | 23 | $23.47 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 23 | 23 | $23.47 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 11 | 11 | $49.07 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 11 | 11 | $49.07 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 5 | 5 | $107.96 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 2 | 2 | $269.91 |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g2-standard-12 | 12 | 48 | 11.90 | 43.38 GiB | 110 | $321.47 | $7.41 |
| g2-standard-16 | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 58.42 GiB | 110 | $428.63 | $7.34 |
| a2-ultragpu-1g | 12 | 170 | 11.90 | 159.74 GiB | 110 | $832.72 | $5.21 |
| g2-standard-24 | 24 | 96 | 23.87 | 88.50 GiB | 110 | $642.95 | $7.26 |
| g2-standard-8 | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 28.34 GiB | 110 | $214.32 | $7.56 |
| a2-highgpu-2g | 24 | 170 | 23.87 | 159.74 GiB | 110 | $1,079.64 | $6.76 |
| g2-standard-32 | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $857.27 | $7.23 |
| a3-highgpu-1g | 26 | 234 | 25.86 | 222.46 GiB | 110 | $923.23 | $4.15 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g4ad.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 63.34 GiB | 29 | $632.91 | $9.99 |
| g6f.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 61.14 GiB | 234 | $693.50 | $11.34 |
| g4dn.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 63.34 GiB | 29 | $878.92 | $13.88 |
| g6.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 61.14 GiB | 234 | $965.94 | $15.80 |
| g5.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 61.14 GiB | 234 | $1,185.52 | $19.39 |
| g7.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 58.22 GiB | 506 | $2,220.72 | $38.15 |