t2a-standard-1 as a GKE node
1 vCPU4 GiBarm64Google Cloud us-central1T2A Standard 1
Where the t2a-standard-1 goes
Default GKE setup: GKE ≤ 1.36.
CPU0.74 of 1 vCPU left for your pods
Memory2.61 GiB of 4 GiB left for your pods
your podsDaemonSets (200m, 300 MiB assumed)kubelet reservedeviction
110max pods per node
$28.11on demand / month · $0.0385/h
$16.02spot / month (varies)
t2a-standard-1 GKE max pods and allocatable memory — quick answers
- How many pods can a t2a-standard-1 run as a node with GKE ≤ 1.36? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 1124 MiB of memory and 60m CPU, leaving 2.90 GiB and 0.94 vCPU for pods.
- How many pods can a t2a-standard-1 run as a node with GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS)? Up to 110; kubelet keeps 1124 MiB of memory and 60m CPU, leaving 2.90 GiB and 0.94 vCPU for pods.
- How many 500m / 1 GiB pods fit? 1 per node after DaemonSets; 10 nodes for 10 replicas, about $281.05/month on demand.
What kubelet reserves on t2a-standard-1
| Setup | Max pods | kube-reserved CPU | Memory reserved + eviction | Allocatable CPU | Allocatable memory | Memory usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKE ≤ 1.36 tiered memory reservation | 110 | 60m | 1024 Mi + 100 Mi | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 72.6% |
| GKE 1.37+ (Container-Optimized OS) 15 MiB × max pods + 500 MiB, CPU capped at 1 vCPU | 110 | 60m | 1024 Mi + 100 Mi | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 72.6% |
How these numbers are computed: reservation formulas. Check a live node with kubectl describe node → Allocatable.
How many pods fit on one t2a-standard-1
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 | 7 | 7 | $4.01 |
| 250m / 256 Mi | 2 | 2 | $14.05 |
| 250m / 512 Mi | 2 | 2 | $14.05 |
| 500m / 512 Mi | 1 | 1 | $28.11 |
| 500m / 1024 Mi | 1 | 1 | $28.11 |
| 1000m / 1024 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1000m / 2048 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2000m / 4096 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
| 4000m / 8192 Mi | 0 | 0 | — |
Similar GKE node types
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n4a-standard-1 | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 110 | $28.11 | $9.68 |
| t2d-standard-1 | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 110 | $30.84 | $10.63 |
| c4a-standard-1 | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 110 | $32.78 | $11.29 |
| n1-standard-1 | 1 | 3.75 | 0.94 | 2.71 GiB | 110 | $34.67 | $12.77 |
| n4a-highcpu-1 | 1 | 2 | 0.94 | 1.40 GiB | 110 | $23.71 | $16.91 |
| c4a-highcpu-1 | 1 | 2 | 0.94 | 1.40 GiB | 110 | $27.65 | $19.72 |
| n4a-highmem-1 | 1 | 8 | 0.94 | 6.10 GiB | 110 | $36.89 | $6.05 |
| e2-medium | 2 | 4 | 0.94 | 2.90 GiB | 110 | $40.38 | $13.91 |
Closest match on other clouds
| Type | vCPU | GiB | Alloc CPU | Alloc memory | Max pods | $/month | $ per alloc GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m6g.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.57 GiB | 8 | $28.11 | $7.88 |
| m7g.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.57 GiB | 8 | $29.78 | $8.35 |
| m8g.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.57 GiB | 8 | $32.76 | $9.18 |
| m6gd.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.57 GiB | 8 | $33.00 | $9.25 |
| m9g.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.22 GiB | 40 | $35.71 | $11.08 |
| m7gd.medium | 1 | 4 | 0.94 | 3.57 GiB | 8 | $38.98 | $10.93 |