A while back, I wrote a blog post on creating a low-cost managed Kubernetes cluster. The solution centers around Google Kubernetes Engines’s (GKE) free zonal cluster and preemptive node pools. This allows for a very low-cost Kubernetes cluster which is useful for learning purposes or for small workloads. The same setup is in use today for me; however, over time, the GKE cluster has by default become bloated. Google have enabled by default logging, monitoring, and other features to the cluster, which is great for production workloads, but if you are looking to cut costs, then many of these features don’t make sense.

Kubernetes is an open-source system that’s popular amongst developers. It automatically deploys, scales, and manages containerized applications. Yet for those working outside of the traditional startup or corporate setting, Kubernetes can be CPU and memory-intensive, disincentivizing developers from using a strategically beneficial tool. We’ll highlight some of the constraints posed by using Kubernetes and offer a series of low-cost, practically-beneficial solution: Google Kubernetes Engine deployed and managed with Terraform.