Day 18: Taints & Tolerations vs. Node Affinity | MASTER Pod Scheduling | CKA Course 2025

Welcome to Day 18!
👉 GitHub Repository: github.com/CloudWithVarJosh/CKA-Certification-Cour…
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In this session, we compare Taints & Tolerations vs. Node Affinity, two powerful Kubernetes scheduling mechanisms. While Taints & Tolerations help repel unwanted pods from specific nodes, Node Affinity ensures that pods are scheduled only on designated nodes. We’ll analyze their differences, understand why using both together provides better control, and demonstrate practical use cases where each method excels.

🌟 What You’ll Learn:
✅ Why do we need Node Affinity if we already have Taints & Tolerations?
✅ How Taints & Tolerations Work: Ensuring certain nodes accept or reject workloads.
✅ How Node Affinity Works: Assigning pods to nodes based on labels with strict (required) and flexible (preferred) rules.
✅ Limitations of Using Only One Method: Why relying only on Taints & Tolerations or Node Affinity is insufficient.
✅ Best Practices for Advanced Scheduling: Ensuring workloads land on the right nodes efficiently.

💡 By the End of This Lecture:
You'll understand the key differences between Taints & Tolerations and Node Affinity, and you'll be able to strategically combine them for optimal pod placement in Kubernetes. This is essential for workload isolation, resource optimization, and cluster stability.

🔗 Stay Connected:
👉 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/varun-joshi-2b516752
👉 GitHub: github.com/CloudWithVarJosh

💬 Questions? Drop them in the comments, and I’ll reply ASAP! 😊
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