Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) & Operations
Google invented Kubernetes. GKE is the premier managed Kubernetes implementation in the industry, featuring four-way autoscaling (horizontal pod autoscaling, vertical pod autoscaling, node…
Lesson 20 of 26 · Module: Google Cloud
22 min read · Source notes — Managing GKE Nodes & Cloud Operations
Google invented Kubernetes. GKE is the premier managed Kubernetes implementation in the industry, featuring four-way autoscaling (horizontal pod autoscaling, vertical pod autoscaling, node auto-provisioning, and cluster autoscaling).
Inspecting managed node pools, auto-repair, auto-upgrades, and cluster topology in GKE.
1. GKE Autopilot vs GKE Standard
| Capability | GKE Autopilot (Recommended) | GKE Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Node Management | Fully managed by Google (No worker VMs to patch or maintain) | You manage VM instance types, OS versions, and node pools |
| Billing Model | Pay only for Pod CPU/RAM requests that are actually running | Pay for underlying Compute Engine VMs regardless of pod utilization |
| Security Hardening | Pre-configured according to CIS Kubernetes benchmark best practices | Manual configuration of RBAC, network policies, and OS hardening |
Running LogQL filters across cluster pods, API gateways, and audit activity streams.
Querying petabyte-scale application logs and metrics in seconds using ANSI SQL in BigQuery.
Keep going: ← Lesson 19 · Lesson 21 → · Module overview · Track it in the Self Guide
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