Amazon EKS Managed Node Groups Unveil New Update Strategies, "Minimal Capacity"

Amazon EKS Managed Node Groups Unveil New Update Strategies

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) has introduced new update strategies for its managed node groups, enhancing the way users manage their Kubernetes clusters. This update is particularly useful for several reasons:

• Flexibility in Update Management: Previously, updates followed a single, default strategy. Now, users can choose between the "Default" **strategy, where new EC2 instances are launched before terminating old ones, and the new "Minimal Capacity" strategy. The latter approach is designed to launch fewer new instances, which is especially beneficial for node groups that have been scaled to zero or are using high-demand or limited-availability instances like those with **GPU acceleration or capacity reservations. It will help save cost, e.g. in Dev. environment or expensive GPU VMs for non mission critical workloads (e.g. a batch job).

• Cost Efficiency: The Minimal Capacity strategy helps in managing costs more effectively by reducing the number of new EC2 instances launched during updates. This can lead to lower operational overhead and compute costs, particularly when dealing with expensive instance types or when scaling operations are involved.

• Simplified Operations: With these strategies, Amazon EKS simplifies the operational complexity of node updates. Users no longer need to manually manage the lifecycle of their nodes as meticulously, allowing for smoother, automated upgrades that respect pod disruption budgets.

• Broad Availability: These new strategies are available at no additional cost across all AWS Regions, except for AWS GovCloud (US) and China Regions, making it accessible for a wide user base without additional financial burden.

This enhancement in Amazon EKS managed node groups is a significant step towards providing users with more control, reducing costs, and ensuring high availability of applications on Kubernetes clusters. For more detailed information, you can visit the official AWS announcement page.

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AWS EKS Upgrade phase