Koordinator
koordinator.sh
What it is
Koordinator is a free, self-hosted QoS scheduling system for Kubernetes microservices, AI, big-data, audio, and video workloads. It adds priority and quality-of-service controls so different pods and workload types can share nodes. Application profiling supports resource overcommitment while preserving QoS guarantees, and fine-grained isolation targets latency-sensitive work alongside batch jobs. Customizable policies cover Web Service, Spark, Presto, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. QoSManager tunes pod isolation using profiling, interference detection, and SLO settings. Koord-Queue supports TFJob, PyTorchJob, Spark, Argo Workflow, Ray, and native Kubernetes Jobs, with Kueue AdmissionCheck compatibility. YARN Copilot connects Hadoop YARN jobs with Kubernetes pods. Koordinator works alongside kube-scheduler, using control-plane and node components without invasive native changes. Helm 3.5 or newer and Kubernetes 1.18 or newer are required.
Spec sheet
- Purpose
- Koordinator is a QoS-based scheduling system for efficient orchestration of microservices, AI and big-data workloads on Kubernetes.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- License
- The Koordinator project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.Read 1 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Founded
- 2022Read 28 Sep 2026 · koordinator.sh
- CNCF status
- Koordinator was accepted to the CNCF Sandbox on April 16, 2024.Read 1 Oct 2026 · cncf.io
- Community support
- The project provides community support through a Slack #koordinator channel and a DingTalk group.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Compatibility limit
- Koordinator v1.8 is only partially supported on Kubernetes 1.20 and 1.22 because some components require newer Kubernetes APIs, while core co-location, QoS, and scheduling continue to function.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Governance
- Koordinator is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation sandbox project.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Installation
- Koordinator can be installed with Helm 3.5 or newer, and the installation documentation requires Kubernetes 1.18 or newer.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Integration model
- It runs with control-plane and node components in a Kubernetes cluster without invasive modifications to native Kubernetes components.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Job scheduling
- Its job-scheduling mechanisms support workloads in areas including big data, AI, audio and video.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Kubernetes compatibility
- Koordinator is compatible with Kubernetes QoS and its scheduler is designed to enhance kube-scheduler rather than replace it.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Kubernetes requirement
- Koordinator requires Kubernetes version 1.18 or newer.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Linux requirement
- The documentation recommends a Linux kernel version of 4.19 or higher for the best experience.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- NRI support
- NRI mode resource management requires containerd 1.7.0 or newer with NRI enabled and is enabled by default in Koordinator.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Operations tooling
- Koordinator includes tools for monitoring, troubleshooting and operations.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- QoS and priority
- It provides priority and QoS mechanisms to co-locate different workload types and run different pods on one node.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- QoS management
- QoSManager dynamically tunes pod resource-isolation parameters using profiling, interference detection, and SLO configuration.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Queue integrations
- Koord-Queue supports TFJob, PyTorchJob, Spark, Argo Workflow, Ray and native Kubernetes Jobs, and is compatible with Kueue's AdmissionCheck API.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Resource efficiency
- It combines elastic resource quotas, pod packing, overcommitment, resource sharing, and container isolation to improve utilization.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Resource isolation
- It provides fine-grained resource orchestration and isolation for latency-sensitive workloads and batch jobs.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Resource overcommitment
- It supports resource overcommitment using application profiling while maintaining QoS guarantees.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Runtime integration
- NRI mode resource management requires containerd 1.7.0 or newer with NRI enabled and is enabled by default in the documented configuration.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Scheduling policies
- It provides customizable scheduling policies and profiles for workloads including Web Service, Spark, Presto, TensorFlow, and PyTorch.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Security controls
- Koordinator webhooks use least-privilege service accounts, TLS with automatically managed certificates, input validation, rate limiting, and audit logging.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- Vulnerability reporting
- The project asks users to report vulnerabilities by email to [email protected].Read 1 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Webhook security
- Koordinator webhooks use least-privilege service accounts, TLS with automatically managed certificates, input validation, rate limiting and audit logging.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
- YARN integration
- Koordinator YARN Copilot supports running Hadoop YARN jobs with Kubernetes pods using shared node-level batch resources and unified priority and QoS policies.Read 1 Oct 2026 · koordinator.sh
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- QoS and priority scheduling
- Resource overcommitment with profiling
- Fine-grained workload isolation
- Multiple queue-framework integrations
- Apache License 2.0
Limits
- Requires Kubernetes 1.18 or newer
- Helm 3.5 or newer required
- Linux kernel 4.19 recommended
- Kubernetes 1.20 and 1.22 have partial v1.8 support
Who it suits
It suits Kubernetes operators managing mixed latency-sensitive, batch, AI, and data workloads. A self-hosted deployment and Linux environment are expected.
Verdict
Koordinator extends Kubernetes scheduling with QoS, isolation, overcommitment, and workload-specific integrations. Review version compatibility and the infrastructure requirements before deployment.
Where Specifiction places it
- GPU Cluster Management Software#10 of 217.5