Kubernetes Resource Management
Learn why CPU and memory requests and limits matter before diving into quotas, QoS classes, and autoscaling.
Why Resource Management Matters
Clusters are shared environments. If workloads do not declare what they need, scheduling becomes less predictable and noisy neighbors can hurt application stability.
CPU and Memory Units
| Resource | Common unit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | millicores | 500m means half a CPU |
| Memory | bytes with binary suffixes | 256Mi, 1Gi |
Requests vs Limits Overview
- requests influence scheduling because they tell Kubernetes the minimum resources a pod needs
- limits cap how much a container is allowed to consume
Sub-pages in This Section
| Sub-topic | What you will learn |
|---|---|
| Requests and Limits | Scheduling, throttling, OOM kills, and QoS classes |
| Horizontal Pod Autoscaler | Scale replicas based on resource metrics |
Why This Is a Platform Skill
Good resource settings improve reliability, cluster efficiency, and cost control. Poor settings can cause overloaded nodes, evictions, or wasted capacity.
Exercise
CPU Unit
What does `500m` CPU mean in Kubernetes?
Exercise
Request Meaning
Why are resource requests important?