Kubernetes cost management 101
Blog post from Stream.Security
Kubernetes has become a leading container orchestration platform, facilitating application deployment, scaling, and management, but its cost management can be complex. Effective cost management involves understanding the resources within a cluster, such as nodes, pods, and containers, and monitoring their usage with tools like Prometheus and Grafana to identify inefficiencies. Implementing resource quotas and limits can prevent overconsumption, while features like Cluster Autoscaler and Horizontal Pod Autoscaler help adjust cluster size according to demand, ensuring only necessary resources are paid for. Rightsizing nodes and pods based on specific requirements, using spot instances for non-critical workloads, and employing cost allocation tags for visibility into cost distribution are crucial strategies for cost optimization. Additionally, Karpenter offers an efficient autoscaling solution by automatically provisioning nodes based on pod requirements, considering factors like instance type and pricing, to ensure cost-effective scaling.