g2-standard-8 as a GKE node
8 vCPU32 GiBx86_641 GPUGoogle Cloud us-central1G2 Standard 8
Where the g2-standard-8 goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU7.71 of 8 vCPU left for your pods
Memory28.05 GiB of 32 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$214.32on demand / month · $0.2936/h
$122.13spot / month (varies)
g2-standard-8 GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a g2-standard-8 run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 3745 MiB of memory and 90m CPU, leaving 28.34 GiB and 7.91 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a g2-standard-8 run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 2250 MiB of memory and 90m CPU, leaving 29.80 GiB and 7.91 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 15 per node after DaemonSets; 1 nodes for 10 replicas, about $214.32/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on g2-standard-8
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 90m | 3645 Mi + 100 Mi | 7.91 | 28.34 GiB | 88.6% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 90m | 2150 Mi + 100 Mi | 7.91 | 29.80 GiB | 93.1% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one g2-standard-8
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 | 77 | 77 | $2.78 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 30 | 30 | $7.14 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 30 | 30 | $7.14 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 15 | 15 | $14.29 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 15 | 15 | $14.29 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 7 | 7 | $30.62 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 7 | 7 | $30.62 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 3 | 3 | $71.44 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 1 | 1 | $214.32 |
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 |
| a2-highgpu-1g | 12 | 85 | 11.90 | 78.16 GiB | 110 | $539.82 | $6.91 |
| g2-standard-4 | 4 | 16 | 3.92 | 13.30 GiB | 110 | $107.16 | $8.06 |
| 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.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 31.03 GiB | 58 | $346.75 | $11.17 |
| g4ad.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 31.57 GiB | 8 | $395.05 | $12.51 |
| g4dn.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 31.34 GiB | 29 | $548.96 | $17.52 |
| g6.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 31.03 GiB | 58 | $713.65 | $23.00 |
| g5.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 31.03 GiB | 58 | $884.76 | $28.51 |
| g7.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 7.91 | 28.92 GiB | 254 | $1,839.60 | $63.60 |