Kubernetes Inconsistent Resource Quotas Between Namespaces

Resource quotas in Kubernetes ensure that namespaces do not exceed a specified amount of resources.

However, inconsistent resource quotas between namespaces can lead to unexpected resource consumption or contention.

To troubleshoot this issue, start by reviewing the resource quotas for each namespace using the kubectl get resourcequota -n <namespace> command.

Ensure that the resource limits and requests are set consistently across namespaces if the intention is to maintain equal distribution of resources.

If discrepancies exist between namespaces, check for any over-provisioning or under-provisioning of resources, particularly in high-demand namespaces.

It’s important to remember that resource quotas only apply to CPU, memory, storage, and other resource types that are explicitly requested or limited by the user.

If a namespace does not have a resource quota, it may consume resources beyond the intended limit.

To prevent this, set default resource requests and limits for all pods within a namespace.

Another issue that can cause resource quota inconsistencies is a high rate of pod scaling in certain namespaces, which can lead to untracked resource consumption.

To resolve this, consider implementing Horizontal Pod Autoscaling (HPA) to automatically scale pod replicas based on resource usage, thus avoiding overloading a namespace.

Additionally, check the quota usage status using the kubectl describe resourcequota -n <namespace> command to identify whether any resource types are approaching their quotas.

This will help you adjust quotas to ensure that workloads are evenly distributed.

Lastly, make sure that your Kubernetes cluster has appropriate monitoring and alerting mechanisms in place to track resource usage and provide early warning signals before quotas are exceeded.