g2-standard-4 as a GKE node
4 vCPU16 GiBx86_641 GPUGoogle Cloud us-central1G2 Standard 4
Where the g2-standard-4 goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU3.72 of 4 vCPU left for your pods
Memory13.01 GiB of 16 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$107.16on demand / month · $0.1468/h
$61.06spot / month (varies)
g2-standard-4 GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a g2-standard-4 run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2762 MiB of memory and 80m CPU, leaving 13.30 GiB and 3.92 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a g2-standard-4 run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2250 MiB of memory and 80m CPU, leaving 13.80 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 $214.32/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on g2-standard-4
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 80m | 2662 Mi + 100 Mi | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 83.1% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 80m | 2150 Mi + 100 Mi | 3.92 | 13.80 GiB | 86.3% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one g2-standard-4
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 | 37 | 37 | $2.90 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 14 | 14 | $7.65 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 14 | 14 | $7.65 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 7 | 7 | $15.31 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 7 | 7 | $15.31 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 3 | 3 | $35.72 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 3 | 3 | $35.72 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 1 | 1 | $107.16 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g2-standard-8 | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 28.34 GiB | 110 | $214.32 | $7.56 |
| g2-standard-12 | 12 | 48 | 11.90 | 43.38 GiB | 110 | $321.47 | $7.41 |
| a2-highgpu-1g | 12 | 85 | 11.90 | 78.16 GiB | 110 | $539.82 | $6.91 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g6f.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $173.38 | $11.54 |
| g4ad.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.57 GiB | 8 | $276.33 | $17.75 |
| g4dn.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.34 GiB | 29 | $383.98 | $25.03 |
| g6.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $587.50 | $39.09 |
| g5.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 15.03 GiB | 58 | $734.38 | $48.86 |
| g3s.xlarge | 4 | 30.5 | 3.92 | 28.97 GiB | 110 | $547.50 | $18.90 |