GKE Node Pool Machine-Type Rightsizing
Nodes bill for their machine type whatever the pods on them request, so a pool sized above its scheduled load pays the difference on every node.
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Google CloudKubernetes
Found, explained, fixed.
Findings with a dollar figure attached, idle, oversized, orphaned, unscheduled and undiscounted spend.
Detect
ZopNight checks this automatically across Google Cloud, with read-only access to the account.
Explain
Every finding says exactly what to change: Change the GKE node pool machine type. Where the saving can be proven it is priced; where it cannot, the finding says so.
Fix
After a guided review, where you confirm the change, ZopNight resizes it to the recommended tier, then checks the change took.
- Applies to
- GKE Node Pools on Google Cloud
- The fix, by hand
- Open Cloud Monitoring → Kubernetes Engine → Node pool and inspect aggregated CPU/memory usage over a representative 30-day window.
- Confirm every workload running on this pool has a PodDisruptionBudget that covers the rolling node recreate; without one the resize will block on un-evictable pods.
- Create a new node pool at the target machine type:
gcloud container node-pools create ‹new-pool› --cluster ‹cluster› --machine-type ‹smaller-type› --num-nodes ‹same-count›. - Cordon and drain the existing pool one node at a time, watching for pending pods and re-balanced HPAs.
- Delete the old node pool once workloads have rescheduled cleanly:
gcloud container node-pools delete ‹old-pool› --cluster ‹cluster›. - Monitor application latency/error metrics for 24h after the migration; revert by recreating the old pool if pressure shows up at the smaller rung.
ZopNight does this for you after a guided review.
- Category
- Rightsizing. Resources sized for headroom they never use. A smaller size runs the same workload for less.
- Where it appears
- The Savings tab of Recommendations, with every affected resource listed.
- Rule ID
RC-1228- Full reference
Related checks
See the oversized resources in your account.
Connect a read-only role and the first pass runs on your own estate. This check, and the rest of the catalogue, with it.
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- $30M+annualised cloud spend under management
- 550K+resources tracked since launch
- 20-60%off the bill in the first month
- SOC 2Type II report, plus ISO 27001
Figures published on zop.dev.