Introduction
Karpenter is a Kubernetes-native autoscaling solution designed to streamline the provisioning and lifecycle management of compute capacity. It enhances the elasticity of our workloads by enabling fast, right-sized, just-in-time node allocation, reducing both latency and resource waste in our Kubernetes clusters.
Karpenter differs from the traditional Cluster Autoscaler by working directly with the Kubernetes scheduler and cloud provider APIs. Instead of relying on pre-defined node groups or instance types, it dynamically selects optimal compute resources based on the specific requirements of pending pods—such as CPU, memory, zone, or architecture. This makes it ideal for modern, heterogeneous workloads running on Cake’s multi-tenant platform, where workloads often have diverse and shifting resource profiles.
Key benefits of integrating Karpenter into the Cake platform include:
Faster Scheduling: Launches new nodes in seconds when demand increases, minimizing pod scheduling delays.
Smarter Resource Utilization: Continuously consolidates underutilized capacity by terminating unnecessary nodes, lowering cloud costs.
Simplified Operations: Reduces the need to manage complex node groups or autoscaling configurations.
Customizable Provisioning: Supports advanced constraints such as taints, tolerations, labels, and instance types to match workload requirements.