Increasing Kubernetes Node Memory Online with VMware and Memory Hot Add
As a Kubernetes administrator, one of the common tasks you may encounter is increasing the memory allocated to nodes. However, this task can be challenging when working with virtual machines (VMs) provisioned manually, as there isn’t a controller that can automatically handle the memory upgrade process. In this blog post, I will discuss how to increase Kubernetes node memory online with VMware and memory hot add.
Background
———-
Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. As Kubernetes workloads grow, they require more memory to function optimally. In some cases, increasing the node memory is necessary to ensure proper application performance. However, manually provisioned VMs lack the ability to automatically increase memory, making it a challenging task for Kubernetes administrators.
Memory Hot Add
————-
Memory hot add is a feature in VMware that allows administrators to increase the memory allocated to running VMs without downtime or service interruption. This feature utilizes Intel’s Extended Memory Technology (EMT) to add memory to running VMs. With memory hot add, you can increase the memory of a running VM without the need for a reboot or manual downtime.
Enabling Memory Hot Add
————————-
To enable memory hot add on your VMware infrastructure, follow these steps:
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client and select the host where you want to enable memory hot add.
2. In the Host Configuration tab, select the Advanced button and scroll down to the Memory Management section.
3. Select the Enable Memory Hot Add checkbox to enable the feature.
4. Click Apply to save your changes.
Once memory hot add is enabled, you can increase the memory allocated to running VMs without downtime or service interruption.
Increasing Kubernetes Node Memory Online with Memory Hot Add
———————————————————–
To increase the memory of a Kubernetes node online with memory hot add, follow these steps:
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client and select the host where your Kubernetes node is running.
2. In the Host Configuration tab, select the Advanced button and scroll down to the Memory Management section.
3. Select the Add Memory button to increase the memory allocated to the running VM.
4. Enter the amount of memory you want to add and click Apply to save your changes.
5. Wait for the memory hot add process to complete, which should take a few seconds.
6. Check the Kubernetes node status with `kubectl describe node` to verify that the increased memory has been allocated successfully.
As shown in the previous example, increasing Kubernetes node memory online with memory hot add is a straightforward process that can be completed without downtime or service interruption. This feature allows Kubernetes administrators to adapt to changing workload requirements quickly and efficiently, ensuring optimal application performance and customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
———-
In this blog post, we explored how to increase Kubernetes node memory online with VMware and memory hot add. We discussed the background of Kubernetes node memory management, the concept of memory hot add, and the steps required to increase Kubernetes node memory online. This feature allows Kubernetes administrators to adapt to changing workload requirements quickly and efficiently, ensuring optimal application performance and customer satisfaction.
If you are looking for options on how to protect your vSphere and VMware Cloud Director workloads, Nakivo Backup & Replication offers capabilities to back up vSphere VMs and VCD objects such as vApps, individual VMs, and vApp metadata, and ensure that remote workloads can be recovered in case of a data loss event.