diff --git a/cli/cmd/cluster.go b/cli/cmd/cluster.go
index 3311c60a01..f89ba386f3 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/cluster.go
+++ b/cli/cmd/cluster.go
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ var _clusterConfigureCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			exit.Error(err)
 		}
 
-		k8sClient, err := k8s.New("default", false, restConfig, scheme)
+		k8sClient, err := k8s.New(consts.DefaultNamespace, false, restConfig, scheme)
 		if err != nil {
 			exit.Error(err)
 		}
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ var _clusterHealthCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			exit.Error(err)
 		}
 
-		k8sClient, err := k8s.New("default", false, restConfig, scheme)
+		k8sClient, err := k8s.New(consts.DefaultNamespace, false, restConfig, scheme)
 		if err != nil {
 			exit.Error(err)
 		}
diff --git a/manager/install.sh b/manager/install.sh
index 7d63049871..5286c4d9ed 100755
--- a/manager/install.sh
+++ b/manager/install.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ function cluster_up() {
   create_eks
 
   echo -n "￮ updating cluster configuration "
+  setup_namespaces
   setup_configmap
   echo "✓"
 
@@ -195,6 +196,12 @@ function write_kubeconfig() {
   out=$(kubectl get pods 2>&1 || true); if [[ "$out" == *"must be logged in to the server"* ]]; then echo "error: your aws iam user does not have access to this cluster; to grant access, see https://docs.cortex.dev/v/${CORTEX_VERSION_MINOR}/"; exit 1; fi
 }
 
+function setup_namespaces() {
+  # doing a patch to prevent getting the kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration annotation warning
+  kubectl patch namespace default -p '{"metadata": {"labels": {"istio-discovery": "enabled"}}}' >/dev/null
+  kubectl apply -f manifests/namespaces.yaml >/dev/null
+}
+
 function setup_configmap() {
   envsubst < manifests/default_cortex_cli_config.yaml > tmp_cli_config.yaml
   kubectl -n=default create configmap 'client-config' \
@@ -227,7 +234,9 @@ function setup_prometheus() {
   envsubst < manifests/prometheus-node-exporter.yaml | kubectl apply -f - >/dev/null
   envsubst < manifests/prometheus-monitoring.yaml | kubectl apply -f - >/dev/null
   python render_template.py $CORTEX_CLUSTER_CONFIG_FILE manifests/prometheus-additional-scrape-configs.yaml.j2 > prometheus-additional-scrape-configs.yaml
-  kubectl create secret generic additional-scrape-configs --from-file=prometheus-additional-scrape-configs.yaml
+  if ! kubectl get secret -n prometheus additional-scrape-configs >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    kubectl create secret generic -n prometheus additional-scrape-configs --from-file=prometheus-additional-scrape-configs.yaml > /dev/null
+  fi
 }
 
 function setup_grafana() {
@@ -360,8 +369,6 @@ function remove_nodegroups() {
 }
 
 function setup_istio() {
-  envsubst < manifests/istio-namespace.yaml | kubectl apply -f - >/dev/null
-
   if ! grep -q "istio-customgateway-certs" <<< $(kubectl get secret -n istio-system); then
     WEBSITE=localhost
     openssl req -subj "/C=US/CN=$WEBSITE" -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout $WEBSITE.key -x509 -days 3650 -out $WEBSITE.crt >/dev/null 2>&1
@@ -530,8 +537,8 @@ function validate_cortex() {
     fi
 
     if [ "$prometheus_ready" == "" ]; then
-      readyReplicas=$(kubectl get statefulset -n default prometheus-prometheus -o jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}' 2> /dev/null)
-      desiredReplicas=$(kubectl get statefulset -n default prometheus-prometheus -o jsonpath='{.status.replicas}' 2> /dev/null)
+      readyReplicas=$(kubectl get statefulset -n prometheus prometheus-prometheus -o jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}' 2> /dev/null)
+      desiredReplicas=$(kubectl get statefulset -n prometheus prometheus-prometheus -o jsonpath='{.status.replicas}' 2> /dev/null)
 
       if [ "$readyReplicas" != "" ] && [ "$desiredReplicas" != "" ]; then
         if [ "$readyReplicas" == "$desiredReplicas" ]; then
diff --git a/manager/manifests/autoscaler.yaml.j2 b/manager/manifests/autoscaler.yaml.j2
index df42a90965..842552f31a 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/autoscaler.yaml.j2
+++ b/manager/manifests/autoscaler.yaml.j2
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ spec:
           args:
             - "--in-cluster"
             - "--port=8000"
-            - "--prometheus-url=http://prometheus.default:9090"
+            - "--prometheus-url=http://prometheus.prometheus:9090"
             - "--namespace=default"
             - "--cluster-config=/configs/cluster/cluster.yaml"
           ports:
diff --git a/manager/manifests/event-exporter.yaml b/manager/manifests/event-exporter.yaml
index ab4847c4a7..8ff19efb09 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/event-exporter.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/event-exporter.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
   name: event-exporter
 
 ---
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ roleRef:
   name: view
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
-    namespace: default
+    namespace: logging
     name: event-exporter
 
 ---
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
 metadata:
   name: event-exporter-config
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
 data:
   config.yaml: |
     logLevel: error
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: event-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
 spec:
   replicas: 1
   selector:
diff --git a/manager/manifests/fluent-bit.yaml.j2 b/manager/manifests/fluent-bit.yaml.j2
index a2e1140f2c..03fef37062 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/fluent-bit.yaml.j2
+++ b/manager/manifests/fluent-bit.yaml.j2
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   name: fluent-bit
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: ClusterRole
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ roleRef:
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: fluent-bit
-    namespace: default
+    namespace: logging
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
 metadata:
   name: fluent-bit-config
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
   labels:
     k8s-app: fluent-bit
 data:
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: DaemonSet
 metadata:
   name: fluent-bit
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: logging
 spec:
   selector:
     matchLabels:
diff --git a/manager/manifests/grafana/grafana.yaml.j2 b/manager/manifests/grafana/grafana.yaml.j2
index ec863d3fb5..1cd9052393 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/grafana/grafana.yaml.j2
+++ b/manager/manifests/grafana/grafana.yaml.j2
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ data:
                 "name": "prometheus",
                 "orgId": 1,
                 "type": "prometheus",
-                "url": "http://prometheus.default:9090",
+                "url": "http://prometheus.prometheus:9090",
                 "version": 1,
                 "isDefault": true
             }
diff --git a/manager/manifests/istio.yaml.j2 b/manager/manifests/istio.yaml.j2
index ecccf38695..55b186cabf 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/istio.yaml.j2
+++ b/manager/manifests/istio.yaml.j2
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ spec:
   profile: minimal
   hub: {{ env['CORTEX_IMAGE_ISTIO_PROXY_HUB'] }}  # this is only used by proxy, since pilot overrides it (proxy doesn't have dedicated hub config)
   tag: {{ env['CORTEX_IMAGE_ISTIO_PROXY_TAG'] }}  # this is only used by proxy, since pilot overrides it (proxy doesn't have dedicated tag config)
+  meshConfig:
+    discoverySelectors:
+      - matchLabels:
+          istio-discovery: enabled
   components:
     pilot:  # "pilot" refers to the istiod container
       hub: {{ env['CORTEX_IMAGE_ISTIO_PILOT_HUB'] }}
@@ -26,7 +30,23 @@ spec:
         resources:
           requests:
             cpu: 100m  # default is 500m
-            memory: 200Mi  # default is 2048Mi == 2Gi
+            memory: 700Mi  # default is 2048Mi == 2Gi
+        hpaSpec:
+          minReplicas: 1
+          maxReplicas: 5
+          metrics:
+            - type: Resource
+              resource:
+                name: cpu
+                targetAverageUtilization: 90
+            - type: Resource
+              resource:
+                name: memory
+                targetAverageUtilization: 90
+          scaleTargetRef:
+            apiVersion: apps/v1
+            kind: Deployment
+            name: istiod
     cni:
       enabled: false
     ingressGateways:
@@ -71,7 +91,7 @@ spec:
           replicaCount: 1
           hpaSpec:
             minReplicas: 1
-            maxReplicas: 1  # edit autoscaleEnabled in values if increasing this
+            maxReplicas: 1
             metrics:
               - type: Resource
                 resource:
@@ -124,7 +144,7 @@ spec:
           replicaCount: 1
           hpaSpec:
             minReplicas: 1
-            maxReplicas: 100  # edit autoscaleEnabled in values if increasing this
+            maxReplicas: 100
             metrics:
               - type: Resource
                 resource:
diff --git a/manager/manifests/istio-namespace.yaml b/manager/manifests/namespaces.yaml
similarity index 83%
rename from manager/manifests/istio-namespace.yaml
rename to manager/manifests/namespaces.yaml
index 3f5ce71534..ce1959e923 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/istio-namespace.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/namespaces.yaml
@@ -16,3 +16,16 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: istio-system
+---
+
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: logging
+---
+
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: prometheus
+---
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-dcgm-exporter.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-dcgm-exporter.yaml
index 8b37d969dd..96d82a5644 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-dcgm-exporter.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-dcgm-exporter.yaml
@@ -12,16 +12,11 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Namespace
-metadata:
-  name: monitoring
----
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   name: dcgm-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: dcgm-exporter
     app.kubernetes.io/instance: dcgm-exporter
@@ -31,7 +26,7 @@ apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: DaemonSet
 metadata:
   name: dcgm-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: dcgm-exporter
     app.kubernetes.io/instance: dcgm-exporter
@@ -106,7 +101,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: dcgm-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     monitoring.cortex.dev: dcgm-exporter
     app.kubernetes.io/name: dcgm-exporter
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-kube-state-metrics.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-kube-state-metrics.yaml
index edf69cd7ba..89da6c4842 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-kube-state-metrics.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-kube-state-metrics.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
   name: kube-state-metrics
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: ClusterRole
@@ -180,13 +180,13 @@ roleRef:
 subjects:
 - kind: ServiceAccount
   name: kube-state-metrics
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: kube-state-metrics
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
     app.kubernetes.io/version: "2.1.0"
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: kube-state-metrics
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     name: kube-state-metrics
     monitoring.cortex.dev: kube-state-metrics
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-kubelet-exporter.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-kubelet-exporter.yaml
index 8982706c42..87855746a0 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-kubelet-exporter.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-kubelet-exporter.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ metadata:
     k8s-app: kubelet
     monitoring.cortex.dev: kubelet-exporter
   name: kubelet
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   endpoints:
   - bearerTokenFile: /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-monitoring.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-monitoring.yaml
index 0982504aff..21b85a851a 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-monitoring.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-monitoring.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: Prometheus
 metadata:
   name: prometheus
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   image: $CORTEX_IMAGE_PROMETHEUS
   serviceAccountName: prometheus
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   name: prometheus
+  namespace: prometheus
 
 ---
 
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ roleRef:
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: prometheus
-    namespace: default
+    namespace: prometheus
 
 ---
 
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
 metadata:
   name: prometheus
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   type: ClusterIP
   ports:
@@ -136,6 +139,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: istio-stats
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     monitoring.cortex.dev: "istio"
 spec:
@@ -187,6 +191,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: proxy-stats
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     monitoring.cortex.dev: "proxy"
 spec:
@@ -240,6 +245,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: async-stats
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     monitoring.cortex.dev: "dequeuer-async"
 spec:
@@ -294,6 +300,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: PodMonitor
 metadata:
   name: prometheus-statsd-exporter
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     name: prometheus-statsd-exporter
     monitoring.cortex.dev: "statsd-exporter"
@@ -320,6 +327,7 @@ apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
 kind: ServiceMonitor
 metadata:
   name: operator
+  namespace: prometheus
   labels:
     name: operator
     monitoring.cortex.dev: "operator"
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-node-exporter.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-node-exporter.yaml
index 3bb631e15d..c381f22902 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-node-exporter.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-node-exporter.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/version: v1.1.2
   name: node-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 
 ---
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ roleRef:
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: node-exporter
-    namespace: default
+    namespace: prometheus
 
 ---
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: node-exporter
     app.kubernetes.io/version: v1.1.2
   name: node-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   clusterIP: None
   ports:
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: node-exporter
     app.kubernetes.io/version: v1.1.2
   name: node-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   selector:
     matchLabels:
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/version: v1.1.2
     monitoring.cortex.dev: node-exporter
   name: node-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   endpoints:
     - bearerTokenFile: /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.1.2
     prometheus: k8s
   name: node-exporter-rules
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   groups:
     - name: node-exporter.rules
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-operator.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-operator.yaml
index 3b7b558318..fc610a31a6 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-operator.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-operator.yaml
@@ -14073,7 +14073,7 @@ roleRef:
 subjects:
 - kind: ServiceAccount
   name: prometheus-operator
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: ClusterRole
@@ -14163,7 +14163,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: prometheus-operator
     app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.48.1
   name: prometheus-operator
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   replicas: 1
   selector:
@@ -14217,7 +14217,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: prometheus-operator
     app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.48.1
   name: prometheus-operator
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
@@ -14227,7 +14227,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: prometheus-operator
     app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.48.1
   name: prometheus-operator
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   clusterIP: None
   ports:
diff --git a/manager/manifests/prometheus-statsd-exporter.yaml b/manager/manifests/prometheus-statsd-exporter.yaml
index ea58db52d8..1a1fe6dd33 100644
--- a/manager/manifests/prometheus-statsd-exporter.yaml
+++ b/manager/manifests/prometheus-statsd-exporter.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
 metadata:
   name: prometheus-statsd-exporter-config
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 data:
   statsd-mapping.yaml: |
     defaults:
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: prometheus-statsd-exporter
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
 spec:
   replicas: 1
   selector:
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ spec:
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
 metadata:
-  namespace: default
+  namespace: prometheus
   name: prometheus-statsd-exporter
   labels:
     cortex.dev/name: prometheus-statsd-exporter
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 304ee1dcf3..eb7bd5e269 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func Init() error {
 
 	prometheusURL := os.Getenv("CORTEX_PROMETHEUS_URL")
 	if len(prometheusURL) == 0 {
-		prometheusURL = fmt.Sprintf("http://prometheus.%s:9090", consts.DefaultNamespace)
+		prometheusURL = fmt.Sprintf("http://prometheus.%s:9090", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 	}
 
 	promClient, err := promapi.NewClient(promapi.Config{
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func Init() error {
 	}
 
 	if OperatorMetadata.IsOperatorInCluster {
-		MetricsClient, err = statsd.New(fmt.Sprintf("prometheus-statsd-exporter.%s:9125", consts.DefaultNamespace))
+		MetricsClient, err = statsd.New(fmt.Sprintf("prometheus-statsd-exporter.%s:9125", consts.PrometheusNamespace))
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(errors.WithStack(err), "unable to initialize metrics client")
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/consts/consts.go b/pkg/consts/consts.go
index 67a9c7e4d0..7ea590fc45 100644
--- a/pkg/consts/consts.go
+++ b/pkg/consts/consts.go
@@ -27,8 +27,11 @@ var (
 	CortexVersion      = "master" // CORTEX_VERSION
 	CortexVersionMinor = "master" // CORTEX_VERSION_MINOR
 
-	DefaultNamespace = "default"
-	IstioNamespace   = "istio-system"
+	DefaultNamespace    = "default"
+	KubeSystemNamespace = "kube-system"
+	IstioNamespace      = "istio-system"
+	PrometheusNamespace = "prometheus"
+	LoggingNamespace    = "logging"
 
 	DefaultMaxQueueLength = int64(100)
 	DefaultMaxConcurrency = int64(1)
diff --git a/pkg/crds/hack/run_manager.sh b/pkg/crds/hack/run_manager.sh
index 1b7d1a79fc..acd0ac9b37 100755
--- a/pkg/crds/hack/run_manager.sh
+++ b/pkg/crds/hack/run_manager.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 CLUSTER_CONFIG=$1
 
-port_forward_cmd="kubectl port-forward -n default prometheus-prometheus-0 9090"
+port_forward_cmd="kubectl port-forward -n prometheus prometheus-prometheus-0 9090"
 kill $(pgrep -f "${port_forward_cmd}") >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
 echo "Port-forwarding Prometheus to localhost:9090"
diff --git a/pkg/crds/main.go b/pkg/crds/main.go
index 62b552a426..ee8c0c476b 100644
--- a/pkg/crds/main.go
+++ b/pkg/crds/main.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	if prometheusURL == "" {
-		prometheusURL = fmt.Sprintf("http://prometheus.%s:9090", consts.DefaultNamespace)
+		prometheusURL = fmt.Sprintf("http://prometheus.%s:9090", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 	}
 
 	mgr, err := ctrl.NewManager(ctrl.GetConfigOrDie(), ctrl.Options{
diff --git a/pkg/health/health.go b/pkg/health/health.go
index 45543ec220..77e26fa55f 100644
--- a/pkg/health/health.go
+++ b/pkg/health/health.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/elbv2"
+	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/consts"
 	awslib "github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/aws"
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/errors"
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/json"
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/lib/parallel"
 	"github.com/cortexlabs/cortex/pkg/types/clusterconfig"
 	kapps "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	kcore "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	kresource "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	kmeta "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -106,47 +108,47 @@ func Check(awsClient *awslib.Client, k8sClient *k8s.Client, clusterName string)
 	if err := parallel.RunFirstErr(
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			operatorHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "operator", "default")
+			operatorHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "operator", consts.DefaultNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			controllerManagerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "operator-controller-manager", "default")
+			controllerManagerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "operator-controller-manager", consts.DefaultNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			prometheusHealth, err = getStatefulSetReadiness(k8sClient, "prometheus-prometheus", "default")
+			prometheusHealth, err = getStatefulSetReadiness(k8sClient, "prometheus-prometheus", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			autoscalerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "autoscaler", "default")
+			autoscalerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "autoscaler", consts.DefaultNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			activatorHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "activator", "default")
+			activatorHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "activator", consts.DefaultNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			grafanaHealth, err = getStatefulSetReadiness(k8sClient, "grafana", "default")
+			grafanaHealth, err = getStatefulSetReadiness(k8sClient, "grafana", consts.DefaultNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			operatorGatewayHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "ingressgateway-operator", "istio-system")
+			operatorGatewayHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "ingressgateway-operator", consts.IstioNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			apisGatewayHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "ingressgateway-apis", "istio-system")
+			apisGatewayHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "ingressgateway-apis", consts.IstioNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			clusterAutoscalerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "cluster-autoscaler", "kube-system")
+			clusterAutoscalerHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "cluster-autoscaler", consts.KubeSystemNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
@@ -161,32 +163,32 @@ func Check(awsClient *awslib.Client, k8sClient *k8s.Client, clusterName string)
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			fluentBitHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "fluent-bit", "default")
+			fluentBitHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "fluent-bit", consts.LoggingNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			dcgmExporterHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "dcgm-exporter", "default")
+			dcgmExporterHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "dcgm-exporter", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			nodeExporterHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "node-exporter", "default")
+			nodeExporterHealth, err = getDaemonSetReadiness(k8sClient, "node-exporter", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			statsdExporterHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "prometheus-statsd-exporter", "default")
+			statsdExporterHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "prometheus-statsd-exporter", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			eventExporterHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "event-exporter", "default")
+			eventExporterHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "event-exporter", consts.LoggingNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 		func() error {
 			var err error
-			kubeStateMetricsHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "kube-state-metrics", "default")
+			kubeStateMetricsHealth, err = getDeploymentReadiness(k8sClient, "kube-state-metrics", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 			return err
 		},
 	); err != nil {
@@ -217,7 +219,7 @@ func Check(awsClient *awslib.Client, k8sClient *k8s.Client, clusterName string)
 func GetWarnings(k8sClient *k8s.Client) (ClusterWarnings, error) {
 	var prometheusMemorySaturationWarn string
 
-	saturation, err := getPodMemorySaturation(k8sClient, "prometheus-prometheus-0", "default")
+	saturation, err := getPodMemorySaturation(k8sClient, "prometheus-prometheus-0", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
 	if err != nil {
 		return ClusterWarnings{}, err
 	}
@@ -295,8 +297,11 @@ func getLoadBalancerHealth(awsClient *awslib.Client, clusterName string, loadBal
 
 func getPodMemorySaturation(k8sClient *k8s.Client, podName, namespace string) (float64, error) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	pod, err := k8sClient.GetPod(podName)
-	if err != nil {
+	var pod kcore.Pod
+	if err := k8sClient.Get(ctx, ctrlclient.ObjectKey{
+		Namespace: namespace,
+		Name:      podName,
+	}, &pod); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/workloads/k8s.go b/pkg/workloads/k8s.go
index 06e0526472..0523c8cbfe 100644
--- a/pkg/workloads/k8s.go
+++ b/pkg/workloads/k8s.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package workloads
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -60,14 +61,14 @@ const (
 	_clusterConfigDirVolume = "cluster-config"
 	_clusterConfigConfigMap = "cluster-config"
 	_clusterConfigDir       = "/configs/cluster"
-
-	_statsdAddress = "prometheus-statsd-exporter.default:9125"
 )
 
 var (
 	_asyncGatewayCPURequest = kresource.MustParse("100m")
 	_asyncGatewayMemRequest = kresource.MustParse("100Mi")
 
+	_statsdAddress = fmt.Sprintf("prometheus-statsd-exporter.%s:9125", consts.PrometheusNamespace)
+
 	// each Inferentia chip requires 128 HugePages with each HugePage having a size of 2Mi
 	_hugePagesMemPerInf = int64(128 * 2 * 1024 * 1024) // bytes
 )