Kubernetes SetupPrerequisites

Hardware Requirements

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Cluster Requirements

Kubernetes Version

v1.19 or higher

v1.24+ recommended

Node Count

Minimum 2 nodes

  • 1 CPU node (control plane/general)
  • 1 GPU node (Lightning ASR)
Total Resources

Minimum cluster capacity

  • 8 CPU cores
  • 32 GB RAM
  • 1 NVIDIA GPU
Storage

Persistent volume support

  • Storage class available
  • 100 GB minimum capacity

We recommend using L4 or L40s GPUs for the best performance.

Network Requirements

Ensure the following ports are accessible within the cluster:

PortServicePurpose
7100API ServerClient API requests
2269Lightning ASRInternal ASR processing
3369License ProxyInternal license validation
6379RedisInternal caching

External Access

The License Proxy requires outbound HTTPS access to:

  • api.smallest.ai (port 443)

Ensure your cluster’s network policies and security groups allow outbound HTTPS traffic from pods.

Storage Requirements

Storage Class

Verify a storage class is available:

$kubectl get storageclass

You should see at least one storage class marked as (default) or available.

For AWS Deployments

If deploying on AWS EKS, you’ll need:

  • EBS CSI Driver for block storage
  • EFS CSI Driver for shared file storage (recommended for model storage)

See the AWS EKS Setup guide for detailed setup instructions.