@slotlocker2 Thanks a lot for the tips. Will try out everything you mentioned and get back to you tomorrow with the results. I would have to modify the existing Dgraph Helm chart to make the relevant changes as given in your yaml as well - Will try hostpath-provisioner (last commit was 1 year ago though - so, not sure if it will still work).
Regarding the preemptible killer, is it really the only way to go about safe termination?