c4a-highmem-16 as a GKE node
16 vCPU128 GiBarm64Google Cloud us-central1C4A High Memory 16
Where the c4a-highmem-16 goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU15.69 of 16 vCPU left for your pods
Memory118.29 GiB of 128 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$688.42on demand / month · $0.9430/h
$324.89spot / month (varies)
c4a-highmem-16 GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a c4a-highmem-16 run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 9644 MiB of memory and 110m CPU, leaving 118.58 GiB and 15.89 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a c4a-highmem-16 run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2250 MiB of memory and 110m CPU, leaving 125.80 GiB and 15.89 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 31 per node after DaemonSets; 1 nodes for 10 replicas, about $688.42/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on c4a-highmem-16
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 110m | 9544 Mi + 100 Mi | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 92.6% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 110m | 2150 Mi + 100 Mi | 15.89 | 125.80 GiB | 98.3% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one c4a-highmem-16
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 | $6.43 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 62 | 62 | $11.10 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 62 | 62 | $11.10 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 31 | 31 | $22.21 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 31 | 31 | $22.21 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 15 | 15 | $45.89 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 15 | 15 | $45.89 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 7 | 7 | $98.35 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 3 | 3 | $229.47 |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e2-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $527.93 | $4.45 |
| n4a-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $590.31 | $4.98 |
| n4d-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $649.29 | $5.48 |
| n2d-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $665.64 | $5.61 |
| n4-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $695.08 | $5.86 |
| c2d-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $715.22 | $6.03 |
| c3d-highmem-16 | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $715.22 | $6.03 |
| c3d-highmem-16-lssd | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 118.58 GiB | 110 | $745.22 | $6.28 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e16psv6 | 16 | 128 | 15.74 | 122.97 GiB | 250 | $538.74 | $4.38 |
| e16psv5 | 16 | 128 | 15.74 | 122.97 GiB | 250 | $588.38 | $4.78 |
| r6g.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 125.14 GiB | 234 | $588.67 | $4.70 |
| r7g.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 125.14 GiB | 234 | $625.46 | $5.00 |
| r5a.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 15.89 | 125.14 GiB | 234 | $659.92 | $5.27 |
| e16asv5 | 16 | 128 | 15.74 | 122.97 GiB | 250 | $659.92 | $5.37 |