Overview About K8s Optimizer

Pulse uses a safe overcommit approach to reuse unused requested capacity without changing how users specify resources.

What happens in the cluster:

Pods request CPU and memory as usual.
Pulse continuously detects unused CPU/memory (the difference between requested and actual usage).
Pulse exposes this reclaimable capacity to Kubernetes using Kubernetes extended resources:
- pulse-cpu
- pulse-memory
New pods can then consume these extended resources, improving packing and utilization.

Optimizer calculator
- Continuously computes real-time resource waste.
- Publishes reclaimable capacity back to nodes as pulse-cpu and pulse-memory.
- For details about the configuration, see Configure the Kubernetes Optimizer Calculator.
Admission webhook
- Intercepts incoming pod specs before scheduling.
- Transparently maps user requests:
  - CPU request → pulse-cpu
  - Memory request → pulse-memory
- For details about the configuration, see Configure a Webhook