a2-highgpu-2g as a GKE node
24 vCPU170 GiBx86_642 GPUGoogle Cloud us-central1A2 Highgpu 2g
Where the a2-highgpu-2g goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU23.67 of 24 vCPU left for your pods
Memory159.45 GiB of 170 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$1,079.64on demand / month · $1.48/h
$647.82spot / month (varies)
a2-highgpu-2g GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a a2-highgpu-2g run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 10504 MiB of memory and 130m CPU, leaving 159.74 GiB and 23.87 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a a2-highgpu-2g run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2250 MiB of memory and 130m CPU, leaving 167.80 GiB and 23.87 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 47 per node after DaemonSets; 1 nodes for 10 replicas, about $1,079.64/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on a2-highgpu-2g
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 130m | 10404 Mi + 100 Mi | 23.87 | 159.74 GiB | 94.0% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 130m | 2150 Mi + 100 Mi | 23.87 | 167.80 GiB | 98.7% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one a2-highgpu-2g
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 | $10.09 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 94 | 94 | $11.49 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 94 | 94 | $11.49 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 47 | 47 | $22.97 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 47 | 47 | $22.97 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 23 | 23 | $46.94 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 23 | 23 | $46.94 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 11 | 11 | $98.15 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 5 | 5 | $215.93 |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a3-highgpu-1g | 26 | 234 | 25.86 | 222.46 GiB | 110 | $923.23 | $4.15 |
| g2-standard-24 | 24 | 96 | 23.87 | 88.50 GiB | 110 | $642.95 | $7.26 |
| g2-standard-32 | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $857.27 | $7.23 |
| a2-ultragpu-1g | 12 | 170 | 11.90 | 159.74 GiB | 110 | $832.72 | $5.21 |
| a2-ultragpu-2g | 24 | 340 | 23.87 | 326.34 GiB | 110 | $1,665.45 | $5.10 |
| g2-standard-48 | 48 | 192 | 47.81 | 181.30 GiB | 110 | $1,285.90 | $7.09 |
| g2-standard-16 | 16 | 64 | 15.89 | 58.42 GiB | 110 | $428.63 | $7.34 |
| a2-highgpu-1g | 12 | 85 | 11.90 | 78.16 GiB | 110 | $539.82 | $6.91 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g4ad.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 127.03 GiB | 58 | $1,265.82 | $9.96 |
| g6.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 125.14 GiB | 234 | $1,470.51 | $11.75 |
| g4dn.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 127.03 GiB | 58 | $1,588.48 | $12.50 |
| g5.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 125.14 GiB | 234 | $1,787.04 | $14.28 |
| g7.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 31.85 | 120.86 GiB | 632 | $2,982.96 | $24.68 |
| g3.8xlarge | 32 | 244 | 31.85 | 240.97 GiB | 250 | $1,664.40 | $6.91 |