Skip to content
ENExplore Calculators

Pod Resource Requests Calculator

Work out pod resource requests instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Pod Resource Requests Calculator

Requests drive scheduling and are what the cluster reserves; limits cap actual consumption. Setting requests near the p95 with modest headroom avoids both waste and eviction. Memory limits should equal requests because exceeding a memory limit kills the pod, whereas CPU limits merely throttle — which is why a CPU limit above the request is safe and a memory one is not.

Formula

Requests and limits

request = p95 usage x (1 + headroom); CPU limit = request x multiplier; Guaranteed QoS requires requests equal to limits for both CPU and memory

Worked example

With the default values below, Pod Resource Requests Calculator returns CPU request of 312. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Observed CPU usage p95minimum 1 m
260 m
Observed memory usage p95minimum 1 MB
380 MB
Headroom above p95 for requestsaccepts 0–200 %
20 %
Limit as a multiple of the requestaccepts 1–10 x
2 x

Results

CPU request
312 m
Memory request
456 MB
CPU limit
624 m
Quality of service class
Burstable - limits exceed requests, evicted before Guaranteed pods

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Requests and limits
  3. 3CPU request= 312 m
  4. 4Memory request= 456 MB
  5. 5CPU limit= 624 m
  6. 6Quality of service class= Burstable - limits exceed requests, evicted before Guaranteed pods

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to whole numbers, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should CPU limits be set at all?

It is contested. Limits cause throttling that hurts tail latency even below full utilisation, so many operators set CPU requests only and rely on requests for fair sharing.

Why must memory limits equal requests for critical pods?

Because that gives Guaranteed QoS, which makes the pod the last to be evicted under node memory pressure.

Related Calculators

Pod Resource Requests Calculator | Calcrivo