GKE — Google Kubernetes Engine
GKE is Google's managed Kubernetes service. Google invented Kubernetes, and GKE is the most mature managed offering.
GKE Modes
Standard: You manage node pools, full control, pay per node
Autopilot: Google manages nodes, pay per Pod CPU/memory, recommended
bash
# Create Autopilot cluster (recommended)
gcloud container clusters create-auto my-cluster \
--region us-central1
# Create standard cluster
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster \
--region us-central1 \
--num-nodes 3 \
--machine-type n2-standard-4
Workload Identity
The correct way to give Pods access to GCP services — no service account keys in code.
bash
# 1. Annotate K8s Service Account with GCP SA
kubectl annotate serviceaccount app-sa \
iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account=app-sa@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com
# 2. Allow K8s SA to impersonate GCP SA
gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding \
app-sa@PROJECT.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
--role roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser \
--member "serviceAccount:PROJECT.svc.id.goog[default/app-sa]"
Node Pools
bash
# Add GPU node pool for ML workloads
gcloud container node-pools create gpu-pool \
--cluster my-cluster \
--machine-type a2-highgpu-1g \
--accelerator type=nvidia-tesla-a100,count=1 \
--enable-autoscaling --min-nodes 0 --max-nodes 5
# Spot VMs — 70-80% cheaper for fault-tolerant workloads
gcloud container node-pools create spot-pool \
--cluster my-cluster \
--spot
GKE vs EKS
GKE: Best managed Kubernetes experience, Autopilot, Anthos multi-cloud, Workload Identity simpler than IRSA. Choose for GCP-first organisations.
EKS: Better AWS service integration, wider enterprise adoption in AWS shops. Choose when AWS is your primary cloud.
