Warm pools
Warm pools are pre-started containers held in reserve per application per region. When a session request arrives, the orchestration platform assigns a container that’s already running instead of cold-starting a new one. This reduces allocation time to near-zero.
How warm pools work
You configure a pool size — for example, 10 containers in Europe and 5 in North America. The platform keeps that many containers running and ready. When a matchmaker requests a session, one is assigned immediately. The pool is replenished automatically.
Billing and trade-offs
Every container in the warm pool is billable while it’s held, whether or not it has been assigned to a session. You’re paying for reserved readiness. Size your pool to match expected concurrent demand, not your peak — cloud bursting handles spikes above the baseline.
Warm pools are most valuable for competitive games where sub-second allocation matters, or high-frequency matchmaking where even a 0.5-second cold start adds up across thousands of sessions per minute.