- The Image Locality priority function of the scheduler has been improved and is now enabled by default. With this feature enabled, nodes that have all or a partial set of images required for running a pod are preferred over other nodes, which improves pod start-up time.
- TaintNodeByCondition has been moved to Beta and is enabled by default.
- Scheduler throughput has been improved by ~50% in large clusters (>2000 nodes).

            if (root_directory != null) {
                _dst = _dst.deferred;
                root_directory.encode(_dst);

            }
            if (object_name != null) {
                _dst = _dst.deferred;
                object_name.encode(_dst);

            }
            if (security_quality_of_service != null) {
                _dst = _dst.deferred;
                security_quality_of_service.encode(_dst);

                _dst = _dst.deferred;
                this.root_directory.encode(_dst);

            }
            if (this.object_name != null) {
                _dst = _dst.deferred;
                this.object_name.encode(_dst);

            }
            if (this.security_quality_of_service != null) {
                _dst = _dst.deferred;

        // Arrange & Act
        SMBProtocolDecodingException ex = new SMBProtocolDecodingException(message);

        // Assert message and cause
        assertEquals(message, ex.getMessage(), "Message should be preserved as provided");
        assertNull(ex.getCause(), "Cause should be null when only message is provided");

        // toString should include the class name and (if non-null) the message
        String ts = ex.toString();

            // Create a real NdrBuffer mock that can handle the deferred field access
            // But only test the non-deferred parts to avoid field mocking issues

            // When: Trying to encode (may throw exception due to deferred buffer)
            // Then: Should at least call the basic encoding methods before hitting deferred
            assertThrows(Exception.class, () -> {

                .findFirst()
                .orElseThrow(() -> new AssertionError("Custom resource not found"));

        // Verify targetPath was preserved through conversion chain
        assertEquals(
                "custom-output", customResource.getTargetPath(), "targetPath should be preserved in ConnectedResource");

        // Test that includes modification preserves targetPath (tests ConnectedResource functionality)

    @Mock
    private NdrBuffer mockDeferredBuffer;

    @BeforeEach
    void setUp() {
        MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this);
        // Set the deferred field directly since it's a public field, not a method
        mockNdrBuffer.deferred = mockDeferredBuffer;
        lenient().when(mockNdrBuffer.derive(anyInt())).thenReturn(mockDeferredBuffer);

                    deferred.reject(new SuggesterException("Search failure. Failed shards num:" + searchResponse.getFailedShards()));
                } else {
                    deferred.resolve(createResponse(searchResponse));
                }
            }

            @Override
            public void onFailure(final Exception e) {
                deferred.reject(e);
            }
        });
    }

    void messageConstructor_setsMessageAndNullCause(String message) {
        // Arrange & Act
        SMBProtocolDowngradeException ex = new SMBProtocolDowngradeException(message);

        // Assert - message preserved, cause null
        assertEquals(message, ex.getMessage());
        assertNull(ex.getCause());

        // Assert - toString starts with class name and contains message when present
        if (message == null) {

        final NdrBuffer nb = new NdrBuffer(this.buf, this.start);
        nb.index = idx;
        nb.deferred = this.deferred;
        return nb;
    }

    /**
     * Resets the buffer position to the start.
     */
    public void reset() {
        this.index = this.start;
        this.length = 0;
        this.deferred = this;
    }

    /**
     * Returns the current index position in the buffer.
     *