n1-highmem-4 as a GKE node
4 vCPU26 GiBx86_64Google Cloud us-central1N1 High Memory 4
Where the n1-highmem-4 goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU3.72 of 4 vCPU left for your pods
Memory22.41 GiB of 26 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$172.72on demand / month · $0.2366/h
$98.41spot / month (varies)
n1-highmem-4 GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a n1-highmem-4 run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 3377 MiB of memory and 80m CPU, leaving 22.70 GiB and 3.92 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a n1-highmem-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 23.80 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 $345.44/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on n1-highmem-4
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 80m | 3277 Mi + 100 Mi | 3.92 | 22.70 GiB | 87.3% |
| 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 | 23.80 GiB | 91.5% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one n1-highmem-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 | $4.67 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 14 | 14 | $12.34 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 14 | 14 | $12.34 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 7 | 7 | $24.67 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 7 | 7 | $24.67 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 3 | 3 | $57.57 |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 3 | 3 | $57.57 |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 1 | 1 | $172.72 |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c4d-highmem-4 | 4 | 31 | 3.92 | 27.40 GiB | 110 | $180.43 | $6.58 |
| c4-highmem-4 | 4 | 31 | 3.92 | 27.40 GiB | 110 | $190.29 | $6.94 |
| c4-highmem-4-lssd | 4 | 31 | 3.92 | 27.40 GiB | 110 | $250.29 | $9.13 |
| c4n-highmem-4 | 4 | 31 | 3.92 | 27.40 GiB | 110 | $304.48 | $11.11 |
| c4n-highmem-4-lssd | 4 | 31 | 3.92 | 27.40 GiB | 110 | $334.48 | $12.21 |
| e2-highmem-4 | 4 | 32 | 3.92 | 28.34 GiB | 110 | $131.98 | $4.66 |
| n4a-highmem-4 | 4 | 32 | 3.92 | 28.34 GiB | 110 | $147.58 | $5.21 |
| n4d-highmem-4 | 4 | 32 | 3.92 | 28.34 GiB | 110 | $162.32 | $5.73 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nc4ast4v3 | 4 | 28 | 3.86 | 22.97 GiB | 250 | $383.98 | $16.72 |
| is4gen.xlarge | 4 | 24 | 3.92 | 23.03 GiB | 58 | $420.70 | $18.27 |
| r4.xlarge | 4 | 30.5 | 3.92 | 29.53 GiB | 58 | $194.18 | $6.58 |
| i3.xlarge | 4 | 30.5 | 3.92 | 29.53 GiB | 58 | $227.76 | $7.71 |
| e4psv6 | 4 | 32 | 3.86 | 26.97 GiB | 250 | $134.32 | $4.98 |
| r6g.xlarge | 4 | 32 | 3.92 | 31.03 GiB | 58 | $147.17 | $4.74 |