diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/README.md b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/README.md
index b3f794553c..8c3aefa972 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/README.md
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/README.md
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ The chart includes built-in validation to prevent all operator conflicts:
 | dynamo-operator.controllerManager.manager.args[0] | string | `"--health-probe-bind-address=:8081"` | Health probe endpoint for Kubernetes health checks |
 | dynamo-operator.controllerManager.manager.args[1] | string | `"--metrics-bind-address=127.0.0.1:8080"` | Metrics endpoint for Prometheus scraping (localhost only for security) |
 | dynamo-operator.imagePullSecrets | list | `[]` | Secrets for pulling private container images |
-| dynamo-operator.dynamo.groveTerminationDelay | string | `"15m"` | How long to wait before forcefully terminating Grove instances |
+| dynamo-operator.dynamo.groveTerminationDelay | string | `"4h"` | How long to wait before forcefully terminating Grove instances |
 | dynamo-operator.dynamo.internalImages.debugger | string | `"python:3.12-slim"` | Debugger image for troubleshooting deployments |
 | dynamo-operator.dynamo.enableRestrictedSecurityContext | bool | `false` | Whether to enable restricted security contexts for enhanced security |
 | dynamo-operator.dynamo.dockerRegistry.useKubernetesSecret | bool | `false` | Whether to use Kubernetes secrets for registry authentication |
@@ -134,9 +134,9 @@ The chart includes built-in validation to prevent all operator conflicts:
 | dynamo-operator.dynamo.mpiRun.sshKeygen.enabled | bool | `true` | Whether to enable SSH key generation for MPI Run |
 | grove.enabled | bool | `false` | Whether to enable Grove for multi-node inference coordination, if enabled, the Grove operator will be deployed cluster-wide |
 | kai-scheduler.enabled | bool | `false` | Whether to enable Kai Scheduler for intelligent resource allocation, if enabled, the Kai Scheduler operator will be deployed cluster-wide |
-| etcd.enabled | bool | `true` | Whether to enable etcd deployment, disable if you want to use an external etcd instance |
+| etcd.enabled | bool | `true` | Whether to enable etcd deployment, disable if you want to use an external etcd instance. For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/etcd , all etcd settings should be prefixed with "etcd." |
 | etcd.image.repository | string | `"bitnamilegacy/etcd"` | following bitnami announcement for brownout - https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/etcd#%EF%B8%8F-important-notice-upcoming-changes-to-the-bitnami-catalog, we need to use the legacy repository until we migrate to the new "secure" repository |
-| nats.enabled | bool | `true` | Whether to enable NATS deployment, disable if you want to use an external NATS instance |
+| nats.enabled | bool | `true` | Whether to enable NATS deployment, disable if you want to use an external NATS instance. For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/nats-io/k8s/tree/main/helm/charts/nats , all nats settings should be prefixed with "nats." |
 
 ### NATS Configuration
 
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
index 2d2cc469be..f1df7228bf 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ dynamo-operator:
   # Core Dynamo platform configuration
   dynamo:
     # -- How long to wait before forcefully terminating Grove instances
-    groveTerminationDelay: 15m
+    groveTerminationDelay: 4h
 
     # Internal utility images used by the platform
     internalImages:
@@ -147,10 +147,9 @@ kai-scheduler:
   enabled: false
 
 # etcd configuration - distributed key-value store for operator state
-# For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/etcd
 etcd:
 
-  # -- Whether to enable etcd deployment, disable if you want to use an external etcd instance
+  # -- Whether to enable etcd deployment, disable if you want to use an external etcd instance. For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/main/bitnami/etcd , all etcd settings should be prefixed with "etcd."
   enabled: true
 
   image:
@@ -195,9 +194,8 @@ etcd:
   tolerations: []
 
 # NATS configuration - messaging system for operator communication
-# For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/nats-io/k8s/tree/main/helm/charts/nats
 nats:
-  # -- Whether to enable NATS deployment, disable if you want to use an external NATS instance
+  # -- Whether to enable NATS deployment, disable if you want to use an external NATS instance. For complete configuration options, see: https://github.com/nats-io/k8s/tree/main/helm/charts/nats , all nats settings should be prefixed with "nats."
   enabled: true
 
   # TLS Certificate Authority configuration for secure communication
@@ -338,7 +336,9 @@ nats:
     #       token: << $TOKEN >>
     #     jetstream:
     #       max_memory_store: << 1GB >>
-    merge: {}
+    merge:
+      # 10MB which allows for larger context size : The default NATS max payload size is 1MB, and 256K tokens (with tokens being int32 - 4 bytes each) tips over that 1MB max.
+      max_payload: 10485760
     patch: []
 
   ############################################################
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/controller/dynamocomponentdeployment_controller_test.go b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/controller/dynamocomponentdeployment_controller_test.go
index 0137b98490..3f57d42efc 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/controller/dynamocomponentdeployment_controller_test.go
+++ b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/controller/dynamocomponentdeployment_controller_test.go
@@ -887,7 +887,7 @@ func TestDynamoComponentDeploymentReconciler_generateLeaderWorkerSet(t *testing.
 											TimeoutSeconds:   5,
 											PeriodSeconds:    10,
 											SuccessThreshold: 0,
-											FailureThreshold: 60,
+											FailureThreshold: 720,
 										},
 									},
 								},
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/component_worker.go b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/component_worker.go
index bd86aa095d..d63812ef07 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/component_worker.go
+++ b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/component_worker.go
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func (w *WorkerDefaults) GetBaseContainer(context ComponentContext) (corev1.Cont
 		},
 		PeriodSeconds:    10,
 		TimeoutSeconds:   5,
-		FailureThreshold: 60,
+		FailureThreshold: 720, // 10s * 720 = 7200s = 2h
 	}
 
 	container.Env = append(container.Env, []corev1.EnvVar{
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/graph_test.go b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/graph_test.go
index db7bfe1b19..a8c29cfbf5 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/graph_test.go
+++ b/deploy/cloud/operator/internal/dynamo/graph_test.go
@@ -1937,7 +1937,7 @@ func TestGenerateGrovePodCliqueSet(t *testing.T) {
 													TimeoutSeconds:   5,
 													PeriodSeconds:    10,
 													SuccessThreshold: 0,
-													FailureThreshold: 60,
+													FailureThreshold: 720,
 												},
 											},
 										},
@@ -4721,7 +4721,7 @@ func TestGenerateBasePodSpec_Worker(t *testing.T) {
 							},
 							PeriodSeconds:    10,
 							TimeoutSeconds:   5,
-							FailureThreshold: 60,
+							FailureThreshold: 720,
 						},
 						Ports: []corev1.ContainerPort{
 							{