A Kubernetes node is a single machine in a cluster that serves as an abstraction. Instead of managing specific physical or virtual machines, you can treat each node as pooled CPU and RAM resources on which you can run containerized workloads. When an application is deployed to the cluster, Kubernetes distributes the work across the nodes. Workloads can be moved seamlessly between nodes in the cluster.

A Kubernetes pod is the smallest unit of management in a Kubernetes cluster. A pod includes one or more containers, and operators can attach additional resources to a pod, such as storage volumes. Pods are stateless by design, meaning they are dispensable and replaced by an identical unit if one fails. A pod has its own IP, allowing pods to communicate with other pods on the same node or other nodes.

The Kubernetes Scheduler, running on the master node, is responsible for searching for eligible worker nodes for each pod and deploying it on those nodes. Each pod has a template that defines how many instances of the pod should run and on which types of nodes. When a node fails or has insufficient resources to run a pod, the pod is evicted and rerun on another node.