Architecture Template: GPU Node Pool Setup

Complete YAML for a multi-tier GPU cluster with taints, tolerations, affinity, quotas, and priority classes. Copy, configure, deploy.

When to use this template:

• Setting up GPU node isolation for the first time

• Adding a new GPU tier to an existing cluster

• Configuring per-team GPU quotas

• Setting up priority classes for GPU workloads

---

File 1: gpu-node-taints.sh

Apply taints to GPU nodes. Run once per node or set at the node pool level.

#!/bin/bash
# gpu-node-taints.sh
# Apply taints to GPU nodes for workload isolation

set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Tainting Production GPU Nodes (Tier 1) ==="
for node in $(kubectl get nodes -l gpu-tier=production -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'); do
  kubectl taint nodes $node nvidia.com/gpu=present:NoSchedule --overwrite
  kubectl label nodes $node gpu-tier=production --overwrite
  echo "  Tainted: $node"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Tainting Development GPU Nodes (Tier 2) ==="
for node in $(kubectl get nodes -l gpu-tier=development -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'); do
  kubectl taint nodes $node nvidia.com/gpu=present:NoSchedule --overwrite
  kubectl label nodes $node gpu-tier=development --overwrite
  echo "  Tainted: $node"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Verification ==="
echo "Production GPU nodes:"
kubectl get nodes -l gpu-tier=production -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,TAINTS:.spec.taints
echo ""
echo "Development GPU nodes:"
kubectl get nodes -l gpu-tier=development -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,TAINTS:.spec.taints

---

File 2: priority-classes.yaml

# gpu-priority-classes.yaml
# Three tiers of GPU workload priority

apiVersion: scheduling.k8s.io/v1
kind: PriorityClass
metadata:
  name: gpu-production
value: 1000000
globalDefault: false
preemptionPolicy: PreemptLowerPriority
description: |
  Production GPU inference workloads.
  Highest priority. Will preempt development and batch workloads.
---
apiVersion: scheduling.k8s.io/v1
kind: PriorityClass
metadata:
  name: gpu-development
value: 100000
globalDefault: false
preemptionPolicy: PreemptLowerPriority
description: |
  Development GPU workloads (notebooks, experiments).
  Preempted by production. Will preempt batch workloads.
---
apiVersion: scheduling.k8s.io/v1
kind: PriorityClass
metadata:
  name: gpu-batch
value: 10000
globalDefault: false
preemptionPolicy: Never
description: |
  Batch GPU jobs (training, data processing).
  Lowest priority. Will NOT preempt other workloads.
  Waits for available GPUs.

kubectl apply -f priority-classes.yaml