Kubernetes
Practical
By Samson Tanimawo, PhD
Published Apr 19, 2026
4 min read
Resource Requests vs Limits: 2026
Requests reserve; limits cap. The pattern that prevents both starvation and OOM.
Live workflow · 3 working · 1 queuedLive
Signal · gather Working
Decide · pick action Working
Apply · with verify Working
Learn · update playbook Queued
Requests
What the pod gets guaranteed.
Used for scheduling. Set to expected steady-state usage.
Limits
What the pod cannot exceed.
Set 50-100% above requests for headroom.
Avoid
No requests. Pod could be oversubscribed.
Limits = requests. No headroom for bursts.