How to create an edge node pool - Container Service for Kubernetes

Edge node pools are classified into basic edge node pools and dedicated edge node pools based on the collaborative cloud-edge networking mode. You can create an edge node pool to centrally manage a group of nodes, including node labels and taints. This topic describes how to create an edge node pool.

Prerequisites

A Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) Edge cluster is created. For more information, see Create an ACK Edge cluster.
ack-edge-yurt-manager is installed. This component is called yurt-app-manager in v1.24.6-aliyunedge.1 and earlier.
When you create a dedicated edge node pool, you need to select a solution for cloud-edge communication, such as Express Connect or VPN.

Introduction to edge node pools

Types of edge node pools

Edge node pools support two collaborative cloud-edge networking modes: basic and dedicated.

Basic: The nodes in a basic edge node pool communicate with nodes in the cloud over the Internet. Applications deployed on the edge nodes cannot directly access virtual private clouds (VPCs) over the Internet. If your applications at the edge do not strongly rely on the cloud and you do not have requirements on cloud-edge communication and security, you can use basic edge node pools.
Dedicated: You can connect the nodes in a dedicated node pool to the cloud by using Express Connect, VPN, or CEN. This greatly improves the quality and security of cloud-edge communication. If your applications at the edge rely on cloud-edge communication, a large number of edge devices are deployed, or you have high requirements on the quality and security of cloud-edge communication, we recommend that you use dedicated node pools.

Category	Basic	Dedicated
Cloud-edge networking	Internet	Express Connect, VPN, or CEN
Whether edge nodes can access VPCs	No	Yes
Network quality	Low	Extremely high
Security	Low	Extremely high. Dedicated networks are used to ensure security.
Costs	Low	High (depends on the networking solution)
Scenarios	Applications do not strongly rely on cloud-edge collaboration.	Applications need to frequently communicate with the cloud. Applications require high network quality and low network latency. Applications require high network security.

Annotations for edge node pools

Annotation

Description

alibabacloud.com/interconnection-mode

Specifies the cloud-edge collaboration type. Valid values:

basic: Basic
private: Dedicated

alibabacloud.com/pool-nodes-connected

Specifies whether all nodes in the node pool can communicate with each other at Layer 3. Valid values:

true
false

Create a basic or dedicated edge node pool

Log on to the ACK console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click its name. In the left-side pane, choose Nodes > Node Pools.
On the Node Pools page, click Create Edge Node Pool in the upper-right part.

In the Create Edge Node Pool dialog box, configure the parameters. Then, click Submit.

Parameter	Description
Node Pool Name	The name of the node pool.
Container Runtime	containerd and Docker are supported. Select a container runtime based on the Kubernetes version of the cluster. Take note of the following points: containerd: containerd is recommended for all Kubernetes versions. Docker: Use Docker in clusters that run Kubernetes 1.22 or earlier. For more information, see Comparison of Docker, containerd, and Sandboxed-Container .
Coordination Network between Cloud and Edge	Valid values: Basic and Dedicated. Select Basic or Dedicated based on your business requirements.
Node Label	Add labels to the nodes in the node pool.
Taints	Add taints to the nodes in the node pool.