# Automated Placement

> Control pod placement using node selectors, affinity, taints, and tolerations

- **Category**: Cloud
- **Subcategory**: Foundational
- **Canonical URL**: https://designpattern.fyi/patterns/k8s_automated_placement/

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## Description
The Automated Placement pattern controls where pods are scheduled using various Kubernetes mechanisms. Node selectors specify which nodes a pod can run on, pod affinity/anti-affinity rules influence pod co-location, taints and tolerations control which pods can run on which nodes, and node affinity attracts pods to specific node types.


## Use Cases
Use when you need to control pod placement for performance, security, or compliance reasons or when you have specialized hardware requirements.





## Trade-offs


### Advantages

- Precise control over pod placement

- Enables workload optimization

- Supports specialized hardware deployment

- Improves performance and compliance




### Considerations & Drawbacks

- Can reduce scheduling flexibility

- May lead to resource fragmentation

- Complex rules can be hard to manage







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**Reference**: [Original Source](https://github.com/k8spatterns/examples/tree/master/foundational/AutomatedPlacement)