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Node pools

A node pool is a group of identical worker nodes within a cluster. Your workloads run on the nodes in your pools. A cluster can have one pool or several, and you manage them all from the portal.

Exact sizing — no tiers

Section titled “Exact sizing — no tiers”

Aether has no fixed machine “tiers.” When you create a pool, you choose the exact size of every node in it:

  • vCPUs
  • Memory (GB)
  • Disk (GB)

Every node in a given pool is identical. If you need a different node size, create another pool.

Fixed vs autoscaling pools

Section titled “Fixed vs autoscaling pools”

Every node in a pool is always the same per-node size (vCPU/RAM/disk). What differs is how many nodes the pool runs. In the Add Node Pool form a Fixed | Autoscaling toggle picks one of two kinds:

  • Fixed pool — you set a node count. The pool always runs exactly that many nodes. Best for steady, predictable workloads.
  • Autoscaling pool — you set a CPU/memory budget for the whole pool: a minimum and maximum total vCPUs and a minimum and maximum total memory (GB), plus an initial node count. Aether’s autoscaler adds nodes (of the pool’s fixed per-node size) when pods can’t be scheduled and removes them when they’re no longer needed, keeping the pool’s totals within that budget. Best for bursty or variable workloads.

The choice also affects how the pool is billed — fixed pools bill a flat monthly fee, while autoscaling pools bill hourly per node. See the Billing model for the details.

Node labels and taints

Section titled “Node labels and taints”

When you create a pool you can optionally give its nodes Kubernetes labels and taints:

  • Labels — key=value, comma-separated. Leave empty for none.
  • Taints — key=value:Effect, comma-separated, where Effect is one of NoSchedule, PreferNoSchedule, or NoExecute. Leave empty for none.

Aether applies them to the pool’s nodes automatically at provisioning — you don’t run kubectl label or kubectl taint yourself.

A taint repels pods that don’t tolerate it. To run a workload on a tainted or labeled pool, add a matching nodeSelector and toleration to your own pods — Aether never modifies your workloads. Aether’s own platform components already tolerate the taints, so the node stays functional.

Managing pools from the portal

Section titled “Managing pools from the portal”

On a cluster’s Node Pools tab you can:

  • Add a pool — choose its per-node size, pick Fixed (a node count) or Autoscaling (a CPU/memory budget), and optionally set node labels and taints. Aether provisions the new nodes and joins them to the cluster.
  • Scale a pool — change the node count (or the autoscaling range). Aether adds or removes nodes to match.
  • Delete a pool — Aether tears down all of the pool’s nodes and removes them from the cluster.

Learn more

Section titled “Learn more”