Amazon EC2 Cost Optimization Guide

How to Choose the Right Amazon EC2 Instance Type

Deconstructing EC2 Families & Instance Types

AWS offers over 300 EC2 instance types across five EC2 instance families, each with varying resource and performance focuses.

In this video, Densify’s experts summarize the strengths of the most commonly-used EC2 instance types and offer guidelines on how to identify the EC2 instance that provides the best resources for your application workload for the lowest price.

Amazon EC2 Basics

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is an AWS service offering that delivers secure and scalable cloud compute capacity.

Amazon EC2 icon

Each of your EC2 instances is a virtual server providing compute power capable of running apps within the AWS public cloud.

EC2 instances are launched by created by an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)—an AWS template that describes and defines the OS and operating environment for one or more EC2 instances of one or more EC2 instance types.

Each instance type delivers a mix of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity, across one or more size options, and should be carefully matched to your workload’s unique demands.

AWS groups instances into families that offer discreet abilities for your workloads:

  1. General Purpose
  2. Compute Optimized
  3. Memory Optimized
  4. Accelerated Computing
  5. Storage Optimized

The elastic designation in Elastic Compute Cloud refers to the ability to increase your EC2 instance footprint on demand—up or down—manually, or automatically through Auto Scaling.

At the time of writing, there are nearly 280 EC2 instance types available across nearly 25 regions and 70 availability zones—yielding millions of possible permutations to choose from when optimizing the EC2 instance selection for your workload.

So, how do you choose?

Although other public cloud providers may leverage different groupings and terminologies for their compute service offerings, the general concepts outlined below will apply.

The Benefits of Each EC2 Instance Family

General Purpose EC2 Instance Family

General purpose instances are designed for scalable services, such as web servers, microservices, and distributed data stores. Within the general purpose family there are A1, T4g, T3, T3a, T2, M6g, M5, M5a, M5n, and M4 instance types.

Amazon EC2 A1 Instance Type

The A1 type is used for Arm processor-based workloads.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 A1 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Storage Network Performance (Gbps)
a1.medium 1 2 EBS Up to 10
a1.large 2 4 EBS Up to 10
a1.xlarge 4 8 EBS Up to 10
a1.2xlarge 8 16 EBS Up to 10
a1.4xlarge 16 32 EBS Up to 10
a1.metal 16 32 EBS Up to 10

Amazon EC2 T4g Instance Types

Amazon EC2 T4g instances are EBS-optimized for enhanced networking, and each contain a custom AWS Graviton2 processor with a 64-bit Arm core. T4g instances deliver up to 40% better performance for the price than T3 instances and are appropriate for a broad set of burstable general purpose workloads, including microservices, low-latency interactive applications, small and medium databases, virtual desktops, development environments, code repos, and business-critical apps.

AWS T4g instances earn CPU credits when workloads operate below the baseline threshold. Each accumulated CPU credit can be used to burst to full CPU core performance for one minute. In unlimited mode, T4g instances can burst for as long as required at any time.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 t4g Instances</caption
Instance Size vCPU Memory (GiB) Baseline Performance / vCPU CPU Credits Earned / Hr Network Burst Bandwidth EBS Burst Bandwidth
t4g.nano 2 0.5 5% 6 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,085 Mbps
t4g.micro 2 1 10% 12 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,085 Mbps
t4g.small 2 2 20% 24 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,085 Mbps
t4g.medium 2 4 20% 24 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,085 Mbps
t4g.large 2 8 30% 36 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,780 Mbps
t4g.xlarge 4 16 40% 96 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,780 Mbps
t4g.2xlarge 8 32 40% 192 Up to 5 Gbps Up to 2,780 Mbps

Free Cloud Sizing for One Year

Densify offers the industry’s most automated and accurate recommendations for sizing cloud resources, including VMs, containers, databases, and auto scaling groups.

Densify has partnered with Intel to offer one year of free resource optimization software licensing to qualified companies.

Densify is a proud FinOps Foundation member

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Amazon EC2 T3, T3a, T2 Instance Types

The T3s are burstable general purpose instance types that provide a baseline of CPU performance, but can burst to higher levels of CPU performance during spikes in CPU demand.

T3 instances, and the next-generation version, T3a, are configured with a balance of CPU, memory, and networking resources. There are 7 T3 instance types, ranging from t3.nano with two virtual CPUs and 0.5GB of memory to t3.2xlarge with eight virtual CPUs and 32GB of memory.

T3 instance types are configured by default to increase CPU bursting without limit. This helps prevent insufficient CPU, but also leaves customers at risk of paying more than they have to for the same level of CPU resources. The T3 instances use the Nitro system, which enables network and EBS bursting, as well.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 T3, T3a, & T2 Instances
Instance Size vCPU CPU Credits/hour Mem (GiB) Storage Network Performance
t3.nano 2 6 0.5 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.micro 2 12 1 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.small 2 24 2 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.medium 2 24 4 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.large 2 36 8 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.xlarge 4 96 16 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3.2xlarge 8 192 32 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.nano 2 6 0.5 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.micro 2 12 1 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.small 2 24 2 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.medium 2 24 4 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.large 2 36 8 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.xlarge 4 96 16 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t3a.2xlarge 8 192 32 EBS Up to 5 Gbps
t2.nano 1 3 0.5 EBS Low
t2.micro 1 6 1 EBS Low to Moderate
t2.small 1 12 2 EBS Low to Moderate
t2.medium 2 24 4 EBS Low to Moderate
t2.large 2 36 8 EBS Low to Moderate
t2.xlarge 4 54 16 EBS Moderate
t2.2xlarge 8 81 32 EBS Moderate

Amazon EC2 M6g Instance Type

Amazon EC2 M6g instances are driven by 64-bit Neoverse Arm-based AWS Graviton2 processors that deliver up to 40% improvement in price and performance beyond current generation M5 instances and enable a balance of compute, memory, and networking resources to support a broad set of workloads.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 M6g Instances
Instance Size vCPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage (GIB) Network Bandwidth (Gbps) EBS Bandwidth (Mbps)
m6g.medium 1 4 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6g.large 2 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6g.xlarge 4 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6g.2xlarge 8 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6g.4xlarge 16 64 EBS Up to 10 4,750
m6g.8xlarge 32 128 EBS 12 9,000
m6g.12xlarge 48 192 EBS 20 13,500
m6g.16xlarge 64 256 EBS 25 19,000
m6g.metal 64 256 EBS 25 19,000
m6gd.medium 1 4 1×59 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6gd.large 2 8 1×118 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6gd.xlarge 4 16 1×237 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6gd.2xlarge 8 32 1×474 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m6gd.4xlarge 16 64 1×950 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
m6gd.8xlarge 32 128 1×1900 NVMe SSD 12 9,000
m6gd.12xlarge 48 192 2×1425 NVMe SSD 20 13,500
m6gd.16xlarge 64 256 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
m6gd.metal 64 256 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000

Amazon EC2 M5, M5a, M5n, & M4 Instance Types

The M5, M5a, M5n, and M4 instances are also balanced CPU and memory instances. They’re designed for small and midsize databases and back-end applications.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 M5, M5a, & M5n Instances
Instance Size vCPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage (GiB) Network Bandwidth (Gbps) EBS Bandwidth (Mbps)
m5.large 2 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5.xlarge 4 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5.2xlarge 8 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5.4xlarge 16 64 EBS Up to 10 4,750
m5.8xlarge 32 128 EBS 10 6,800
m5.12xlarge 48 192 EBS 10 9,500
m5.16xlarge 64 256 EBS 20 13,600
m5.24xlarge 96 384 EBS 25 19,000
m5.metal 96 384 EBS 25 19,000
m5d.large 2 8 1×75 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5d.xlarge 4 16 1×150 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5d.2xlarge 8 32 1×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
m5d.4xlarge 16 64 2×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
m5d.8xlarge 32 128 2×600 NVMe SSD 10 6,800
m5d.12xlarge 48 192 2×900 NVMe SSD 10 9,500
m5d.16xlarge 64 256 4×600 NVMe SSD 20 13,600
m5d.24xlarge 96 384 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
m5d.metal 96 384 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
m5a.large 2 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5a.xlarge 4 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5a.2xlarge 8 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5a.4xlarge 16 64 EBS Up to 10 2,880
m5a.8xlarge 32 128 EBS Up to 10 4,750
m5a.12xlarge 48 192 EBS 10 6,780
m5a.16xlarge 64 256 EBS 12 9,500
m5a.24xlarge 96 384 EBS 20 13,570
m5ad.large 2 8 1×75 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5ad.xlarge 4 16 1×150 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5ad.2xlarge 8 32 1×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
m5ad.4xlarge 16 64 2×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 2,880
m5ad.8xlarge 32 128 2×600 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
m5ad.12xlarge 48 192 2×900 NVMe SSD 10 6,870
m5ad.16xlarge 64 256 4×600 NVMe SSD 12 9,500
m5ad.24xlarge 96 384 4×900 NVMe SSD 20 13,570
m5n.large 2 8 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5n.xlarge 4 16 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5n.2xlarge 8 32 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5n.4xlarge 16 64 EBS Up to 25 4,750
m5n.8xlarge 32 128 EBS 25 6,800
m5n.12xlarge 48 192 EBS 50 9,500
m5n.16xlarge 64 256 EBS 75 13,600
m5n.24xlarge 96 384 EBS 100 19,000
m5dn.large 2 8 1×75 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5dn.xlarge 4 16 1×150 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5dn.2xlarge 8 32 1×300 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
m5dn.4xlarge 16 64 2×300 NVMe SSD Up to 25 4,750
m5dn.8xlarge 32 128 2×600 NVMe SSD 25 6,800
m5dn.12xlarge 48 192 2×900 NVMe SSD 50 9,500
m5dn.16xlarge 64 256 4×600 NVMe SSD 75 13,600
m5dn.24xlarge 96 384 4×900 NVMe SSD 100 19,000
Current-Generation Amazon EC2 M4 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Storage Dedicated EBS Bandwidth (Mbps) Network Performance
m4.large 2 8 EBS 450 Moderate
m4.xlarge 4 16 EBS 750 High
m4.2xlarge 8 32 EBS 1,000 High
m4.4xlarge 16 64 EBS 2,000 High
m4.10xlarge 40 160 EBS 4,000 10 gigabit
m4.16xlarge 64 256 EBS 10,000 25 gigabit

Free Cloud Sizing for One Year

Densify offers the industry’s most automated and accurate recommendations for sizing cloud resources, including VMs, containers, databases, and auto scaling groups.

Densify has partnered with Intel to offer one year of free resource optimization software licensing to qualified companies.

Densify is a proud FinOps Foundation member

  • Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform

Compute Optimized EC2 Instance Family

The C5, C5n, and C4 instance types offer the lowest price per CPU ratio of the instance types. These are designed for compute-intensive workloads, like batch processing, data analytics, machine learning, and high-performance computing. The C5 come in nine different models, from the c5.large with two virtual CPUs and 4GB of memory to the c5d.18xlarge with 72 virtual CPUs and 144GB of memory.

Amazon EC2 C5 & C5n Instance Types

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 C5 & C5n Instances
Instance Size vCPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage (GiB) Network Bandwidth (Gbps) EBS Bandwidth (Mbps)
c6g.medium 1 2 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6g.large 2 4 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6g.xlarge 4 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6g.2xlarge 8 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6g.4xlarge 16 32 EBS Up to 10 4750
c6g.8xlarge 32 64 EBS 12 9000
c6g.12xlarge 48 96 EBS 20 13500
c6g.16xlarge 64 128 EBS 25 19000
c6g.metal 64 128 EBS 25 19000
c6gd.medium 1 2 1×59 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6gd.large 2 4 1×118 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6gd.xlarge 4 8 1×237 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6gd.2xlarge 8 16 1×474 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c6gd.4xlarge 16 32 1×950 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
c6gd.8xlarge 32 64 1×1900 NVMe SSD 12 9,000
c6gd.12xlarge 48 96 2×1425 NVMe SSD 20 13,500
c6gd.16xlarge 64 128 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
c6gd.metal 64 128 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
c5.large 2 4 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5.xlarge 4 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5.2xlarge 8 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5.4xlarge 16 32 EBS Up to 10 4,750
c5.9xlarge 36 72 EBS 10 9,500
c5.12xlarge 48 96 EBS 12 9,500
c5.18xlarge 72 144 EBS 25 19,000
c5.24xlarge 96 192 EBS 25 19,000
c5.metal 96 192 EBS 25 19,000
c5d.large 2 4 1×50 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5d.xlarge 4 8 1×100 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5d.2xlarge 8 16 1×200 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
c5d.4xlarge 16 32 1×400 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
c5d.9xlarge 36 72 1×900 NVMe SSD 10 9,500
c5d.12xlarge 48 96 2×900 NVMe SSD 12 9,500
c5d.18xlarge 72 144 2×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
c5d.24xlarge 96 192 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
c5d.metal 96 192 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
c5a.large 2 4 EBS Up to 10 Up to 3,170
c5a.xlarge 4 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 3,170
c5a.2xlarge 8 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 3,170
c5a.4xlarge 16 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 3,170
c5a.8xlarge 32 64 EBS 10 3,170
c5a.12xlarge 48 96 EBS 12 4,750
c5a.16xlarge 64 128 EBS 20 6,300
c5a.24xlarge 96 192 EBS 20 9,500
c5ad.large 2 4 1 x 75 NVMe SSD up to 10 up to 3,170
c5ad.xlarge 4 8 1 x 150 NVMe SSD up to 10 up to 3,170
c5ad.2xlarge 8 16 1 x 300 NVMe SSD up to 10 up to 3,170
c5ad.4xlarge 16 32 2 x 300 NVMe SSD up to 10 up to 3,170
c5ad.8xlarge 32 64 2 x 600 NVMe SSD 10 3,170
c5ad.12xlarge 48 96 2 x 900 NVMe SSD 12 4,750
c5ad.16xlarge 64 128 2 x 1200 NVMe SSD 20 6,300
c5ad.24xlarge 96 192 2 x 1900 NVMe SSD 20 9,500
c5n.large 2 5.25 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
c5n.xlarge 4 10.5 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
c5n.2xlarge 8 21 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
c5n.4xlarge 16 42 EBS Up to 25 4,750
c5n.9xlarge 36 96 EBS 50 9,500
c5n.18xlarge 72 192 EBS 100 19,000
c5n.metal 72 192 EBS 100 19,000

Amazon EC2 C4 Instance Type

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 C4 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Storage Dedicated EBS Bandwidth (Mbps) Network Performance
c4.large 2 3.75 EBS 500 Moderate
c4.xlarge 4 7.5 EBS 750 High
c4.2xlarge 8 15 EBS 1,000 High
c4.4xlarge 16 30 EBS 2,000 High
c4.8xlarge 36 60 EBS 4,000 10 gigabit

Memory Optimized EC2 Instance Family

The R6g, R5, R5a, R5n, R4, X1e, X1, High Memory (U) and z1d instance types are memory optimized. These are designed for memory-intensive applications such as databases and real-time stream processing.

Amazon EC2 R6g, R5, R5a, & R5n Instance Types

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 R6g, R5, R5a, & R5n Instances
Instance Size vCPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage Network Bandwidth (Gbps) EBS Bandwidth (Mbps)
r6g.medium 1 8 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6g.large 2 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6g.xlarge 4 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6g.2xlarge 8 64 EBS Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6g.4xlarge 16 128 EBS Up to 10 4750
r6g.8xlarge 32 256 EBS 12 9000
r6g.12xlarge 48 384 EBS 20 13500
r6g.16xlarge 64 512 EBS 25 19000
r6g.metal 64 512 EBS 25 19000
r6gd.medium 1 8 1×59 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6gd.large 2 16 1×118 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6gd.xlarge 4 32 1×237 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6gd.2xlarge 8 64 1×474 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 4,750
r6gd.4xlarge 16 128 1×950 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
r6gd.8xlarge 32 256 1×1900 NVMe SSD 12 9,000
r6gd.12xlarge 48 384 2×1425 NVMe SSD 20 13,500
r6gd.16xlarge 64 512 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
r6gd.metal 64 512 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
r5.large 2 16 EBS up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5.xlarge 4 32 EBS up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5.2xlarge 8 64 EBS up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5.4xlarge 16 128 EBS up to 10 4,750
r5.8xlarge 32 256 EBS 10 6,800
r5.12xlarge 48 384 EBS 10 9,500
r5.16xlarge 64 512 EBS 20 13,600
r5.24xlarge 96 768 EBS 25 19,000
r5.metal 96 768 EBS 25 19,000
r5d.large 2 16 1×75 NVMe SSD up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5d.xlarge 4 32 1×150 NVMe SSD up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5d.2xlarge 8 64 1×300 NVMe SSD up to 10 Up to 4,750
r5d.4xlarge 16 128 2×300 NVMe SSD up to 10 4,750
r5d.8xlarge 32 256 2×600 NVMe SSD 10 6,800
r5d.12xlarge 48 384 2×900 NVMe SSD 10 9,500
r5d.16xlarge 64 512 4×600 NVMe SSD 20 13,600
r5d.24xlarge 96 768 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
r5d.metal 96 768 4×900 NVMe SSD 25 19,000
r5a.large 2 16 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5a.xlarge 4 32 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5a.2xlarge 8 64 EBS Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5a.4xlarge 16 128 EBS Up to 10 2,880
r5a.8xlarge 32 256 EBS Up to 10 4,750
r5a.12xlarge 48 384 EBS 10 6,780
r5a.16xlarge 64 512 EBS 12 9,500
r5a.24xlarge 96 768 EBS 20 13,570
r5ad.large 2 16 1×75 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5ad.xlarge 4 32 1×150 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5ad.2xlarge 8 64 1×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 Up to 2,880
r5ad.4xlarge 16 128 2×300 NVMe SSD Up to 10 2,880
r5ad.8xlarge 32 256 2×600 NVMe SSD Up to 10 4,750
r5ad.12xlarge 48 384 2×900 NVMe SSD 10 6,780
r5ad.16xlarge 64 512 4×600 NVMe SSD 12 9,500
r5ad.24xlarge 96 768 4×900 NVMe SSD 20 13,570
r5n.large 2 16 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5n.xlarge 4 32 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5n.2xlarge 8 64 EBS Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5n.4xlarge 16 128 EBS Up to 25 4,750
r5n.8xlarge 32 256 EBS 25 6,800
r5n.12xlarge 48 384 EBS 50 9,500
r5n.16xlarge 64 512 EBS 75 13,600
r5n.24xlarge 96 768 EBS 100 19,000
r5dn.large 2 16 1×75 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5dn.xlarge 4 32 1×150 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5dn.2xlarge 8 64 1×300 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Up to 4,750
r5dn.4xlarge 16 128 2×300 NVMe SSD Up to 25 4,750
r5dn.8xlarge 32 256 2×600 NVMe SSD 25 6,800
r5dn.12xlarge 48 384 2×900 NVMe SSD 50 9,500
r5dn.16xlarge 64 512 4×600 NVMe SSD 75 13,600
r5dn.24xlarge 96 768 4×900 NVMe SSD 100 19,000

Amazon EC2 R4 Instance Type

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 R4 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Storage Networking Performance (Gbps)
r4.large 2 15.25 EBS Up to 10
r4.xlarge 4 30.5 EBS Up to 10
r4.2xlarge 8 61 EBS Up to 10
r4.4xlarge 16 122 EBS Up to 10
r4.8xlarge 32 244 EBS 10
r4.16xlarge 64 488 EBS 25

Amazon EC2 X1e & X1 Instance Types

The X1e and X1 are well-suited for database servers with up to 128 virtual CPUs and 3,904GB of memory.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 X1e & X1 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) SSD Storage (GB) Dedicated EBS Bandwidth (Mbps) Networking Performance
x1e.xlarge 4 122 1×120 500 Up to 10 gigabit
x1e.2xlarge 8 244 1×240 1,000 Up to 10 gigabit
x1e.4xlarge 16 488 1×480 1,750 Up to 10 gigabit
x1e.8xlarge 32 976 1×960 3,500 Up to 10 gigabit
x1e.16xlarge 64 1,952 1×1,920 7,000 10 gigabit
x1e.32xlarge 128 3,904 2×1,920 14,000 25 gigabit
x1.16xlarge 64 976 1×1,920 7,000 10 gigabit
x1.32xlarge 128 1,952 2×1,920 14,000 25 gigabit

Amazon EC2 High Memory (U) Instance Type

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 High Memory Instances
Instance Size Logical Processors RAM (GiB) Network Perf (Gbps) Dedicated EBS Bandwidth (Gbps)
u-6tb1.metal 448 6144 100 38
u-9tb1.metal 448 9216 100 38
u-12tb1.metal 448 12288 100 38
u-18tb1.metal 448 18432 100 38
u-24tb1.metal 448 24576 100 38

Amazon EC2 z1d Instance Type

The Z1D is a specialty instance with a 4.0GHz sustained frequency; it’s designed for applications with high per-core licensing costs.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 z1d Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Networking Performance SSD Storage (GB)
z1d.large 2 16 Up to 10 gigabit 1×75 NVMe SSD
z1d.xlarge 4 32 Up to 10 gigabit 1×150 NVMe SSD
z1d.2xlarge 8 64 Up to 10 gigabit 1×300 NVMe SSD
z1d.3xlarge 12 96 Up to 10 gigabit 1×450 NVMe SSD
z1d.6xlarge 24 192 10 gigabit 1×900 NVMe SSD
z1d.12xlarge 48 384 25 gigabit 2×900 NVMe SSD
z1d.metal 48 384 25 gigabit 2×900 NVMe SSD

Free Cloud Sizing for One Year

Densify offers the industry’s most automated and accurate recommendations for sizing cloud resources, including VMs, containers, databases, and auto scaling groups.

Densify has partnered with Intel to offer one year of free resource optimization software licensing to qualified companies.

Densify is a proud FinOps Foundation member

  • Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform

Accelerated Computing EC2 Instance Family

P3, P2, Inf1, G4, G3, and F1 accelerated computing instances provide graphics processing units (GPUs) or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are used for machine learning, high-performance computing, and other numerically intensive workloads.

Amazon EC2 P1 & P2 Instance Types

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 P1 Instances
Instance Size GPUs vCPU Mem (GiB) GPU Mem (GiB) GPU P2P Storage (GB) Dedicated EBS Bandwidth Networking Performance
p3.2xlarge 1 8 61 16 EBS 1.5 Gbps Up to 10 gigabit
p3.8xlarge 4 32 244 64 NVLink EBS 7 Gbps 10 gigabit
p3.16xlarge 8 64 488 128 NVLink EBS 14 Gbps 25 gigabit
p3dn.24xlarge 8 96 768 256 NVLink 2×900 NVMe SSD 19 Gbps 100 gigabit
Current-Generation Amazon EC2 P2 Instances
Instance Size GPUs vCPU Mem (GiB) GPU Memory (GiB) Network Performance
p2.xlarge 1 4 61 12 High
p2.8xlarge 8 32 488 96 10 gigabit
p2.16xlarge 16 64 732 192 25 gigabit

Amazon EC2 Inf1 Instance Type

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 Inf1 Instances
Instance Size vCPUs Memory (GiB) Storage Inferentia chips Inferentia chip-to-chip interconnect Network bandwidth EBS bandwidth
inf1.xlarge 4 8 EBS 1 N/A Up to 25 Gbps Up to 4.75 Gbps
inf1.2xlarge 8 16 EBS 1 N/A Up to 25 Gbps Up to 4.75 Gbps
inf1.6xlarge 24 48 EBS 4 Yes 25 Gbps 4.75 Gbps
inf1.24xlarge 96 192 EBS 16 Yes 100 Gbps 19 Gbps

Amazon EC2 G4 & G3 Instance Types

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 G4 Instances
Instance Size GPUs vCPU Mem (GiB) GPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage (GB) Network Performance (Gbps)
g4dn.xlarge 1 4 16 16 125 Up to 25
g4dn.2xlarge 1 8 32 16 225 Up to 25
g4dn.4xlarge 1 16 64 16 225 Up to 25
g4dn.8xlarge 1 32 128 16 1×900 50
g4dn.16xlarge 1 64 256 16 1×900 50
g4dn.12xlarge 4 48 192 64 1×900 50
g4dn.metal 8 96 384 128 2×900 100
Current-Generation Amazon EC2 G3 Instances
Instance Size GPUs vCPU Mem (GiB) GPU Memory (GiB) Network Performance
g3s.xlarge 1 4 30.5 8 Up to 10 gigabit
g3.4xlarge 1 16 122 8 Up to 10 gigabit
g3.8xlarge 2 32 244 16 10 gigabit
g3.16xlarge 4 64 488 32 25 gigabit

Amazon EC2 F1 Instance Type

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 F1 Instances
Instance Size FPGAs vCPU Mem (GiB) SSD Storage (GB) Networking Performance
f1.2xlarge 1 8 122 470 Up to 10 gigabit
f1.4xlarge 2 16 244 940 Up to 10 gigabit
f1.16xlarge 8 64 976 4×940 25 gigabit

Storage Optimized EC2 Instance Family

The I3, I3en, D2, and H1 families make up the storage optimized instances.

Amazon EC2 I3 & I3en Instance Types

The I3 and I3en use non-volatile memory express (NVMe) SSD storage. These devices are optimized for low latency, random I/O and high sequential reads.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 I3 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Local Storage (GB) Networking Performance (Gbps)
i3.large 2 15.25 1×475 NVMe SSD Up to 10
i3.xlarge 4 30.5 1×950 NVMe SSD Up to 10
i3.2xlarge 8 61 1×1,900 NVMe SSD Up to 10
i3.4xlarge 16 122 2×1,900 NVMe SSD Up to 10
i3.8xlarge 32 244 4×1,900 NVMe SSD 10
i3.16xlarge 64 488 8×1,900 NVMe SSD 25
i3.metal 72 512 8×1,900 NVMe SSD 25
Current-Generation Amazon EC2 I3en Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Local Storage (GB) Network Bandwidth
i3en.large 2 16 1×1,250 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Gbps
i3en.xlarge 4 32 1×2,500 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Gbps
i3en.2xlarge 8 64 2×2,500 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Gbps
i3en.3xlarge 12 96 1×7,500 NVMe SSD Up to 25 Gbps
i3en.6xlarge 24 192 2×7,500 NVMe SSD 25 Gbps
i3en.12xlarge 48 384 4×7,500 NVMe SSD 50 Gbps
i3en.24xlarge 96 768 8×7,500 NVMe SSD 100 Gbps
i3en.metal 96 768 8×7,500 NVMe SSD 100 Gbps

Amazon EC2 D2 Instance Type

The D2 instances are backed by hard disk drives and offer large-volume, low-cost persistent storage with up to 48TB per instance.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 D2 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Storage (GB) Network Performance
d2.xlarge 4 30.5 3×2000 HDD Moderate
d2.2xlarge 8 61 6×2000 HDD High
d2.4xlarge 16 122 12×2000 HDD High
d2.8xlarge 36 244 24×2000 HDD 10 gigabit

Amazon EC2 H1 Instance Type

The H1 instances have up to 16TB of hard disk drive storage designed for high disk throughput.

Current-Generation Amazon EC2 H1 Instances
Instance Size vCPU Mem (GiB) Networking Performance Storage (GB)
h1.2xlarge 8 32 Up to 10 gigabit 1×2,000 HDD
h1.4xlarge 16 64 Up to 10 gigabit 2×2,000 HDD
h1.8xlarge 32 128 10 gigabit 4×2,000 HDD
h1.16xlarge 64 256 25 gigabit 8×2,000 HDD

Other EC2 Instance Selection Considerations

In addition to selecting the right EC2 instance family and type, other resourcing considerations include:

Chipset
Intel Xeon versus AMD EPYC versus AWS Graviton
Sizing
What is the instance type size or Auto Scaling group sizing needed to meet minimum service requirements?
Purchasing strategy
On-Demand, Savings Plans, or Reserved Instances
Software
Custom Amazon Machine Instances (AMIs) versus pre-baked AMIs
Location
Choice of Deployment Region and Availability Zone

Process for Selecting the Right EC2 Instance Types

A few patterns emerge when describing the different kinds of instances you can use in AWS. First, there are a large number of instances. Even within a single family of instances, there can be up to 18 different configurations. This makes it difficult to find the optimal instance type for a given workload.

For example, you may have a compute-intensive application, but you may not be sure if you should use a compute-optimized instance or an accelerated instance. If the application makes many floating point calculations and the code can take advantage of a GPU, an accelerated instance may be the best option. In another scenario, you may want to deploy a distributed computing application that’s I/O-intensive; should you use an SSD or hard disk drive-backed instance? That will depend on the importance of low latency I/O balanced against cost considerations.

These characteristics are key to doing accurate comparisons between different instance types, which can help you decide which kind of instance is best for a particular workload. Also consider technical constraints on different instances, such as which images run on particular instances; if EBS and networking can burst; and the limits of local storage. Finally, consider business policies that might be in effect that limit your options. IaaS clouds offer a significant opportunity to reduce infrastructure costs and increase an enterprise’s ability to adapt to changes in business conditions and related demands on infrastructure. The wide array of choices in choosing an instance type can be bewildering. Mistakes can be costly, as well as degrade performance.

To make an optimal selection in instance type, you need to understand the detailed nuances of the different instance types and models, as well as your workload’s characteristics—including short-term burst in CPU load and longer-term variations in workload due to business cycles. For small numbers of instances this can be done manually, but as environments grow, this can be very challenging.

EC2 Type Selection Cheat Sheet

Commonly-Used Amazon EC2 Instance Types
Instance Size Suitibility Memory & CPU
M3, M4, M5, & M5a General purpose family suitable for a wide range of applications from databases to servers 4:1 memory to vCPU ratio
C3, C4, C5, & C5a Compute intensive family offering superior performance for compute workloads, ideal for HPC, web servers, gaming, and analytics 2:1 memory to vCPU ratio
R3, R4, R5, & R5a Memory intensive family geared towards applications like high performance databases, in-memory caching, and big data analytics 8:1 memory to vCPU ratio
Z1d Offers a balance between R5 and C5 instance types, ideal for electronic design automation and databases with high software license costs per core 8:1 memory to vCPU ratio
T2, T3, & T3a Burstable family suitable for workloads that are spikey in nature: VDIs, small databases, and frequently, for dev environments Accumulate credits while operating under baseline CPU performance levels that can be leveraged when bursting

Enterprise Amazon EC2 Cost Optimization & Management

Properly resourcing your application workload requires precise selection of EC2 instance family and sizing—choices that demand you balance performance, stability, and cost.

Skilled cloud infrastructure managers make these choices every day, and although it is possible to run infrastructure at scale without EC2 management, the cumulative impact of best-guess instance selection always leaves performance, stability, and cost savings gains on the table—sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Additionally, due to continuous service and instance releases across all the cloud providers, it is very difficult to keep up with the latest technology—there can be millions of possible instance configuration possibilities for each of your workloads.

Finally, once an application is up and running in the cloud, it can be difficult to justify manually-determined infrastructure optimizations to those responsible for business delivery of the app.

Densify helps enterprises manage EC2 instance selection at scale, providing recommendations for the best-fit type for each of your workloads. Request a demo, and we’ll show you the power of machine-learning-driven EC2 instance selection.

Densify addresses enterprise EC2 management concerns:

  1. Our optimization engine machine learns your workload’s actual requirements and recommends the optimal EC2 instance family type. quantity, fit and configuration, eliminating waste in your cloud
  2. Densify’s recommendation engine considers EC2 and other service offerings across all the major cloud providers, ensuring you can always leverage the latest and greatest infrastructure
  3. Each recommendation is accompanied by a detailed impact analysis report, useful for justifying changes to underlying infrastructure to application owners
  4. Densify integrates with your ITSM and CI/CD tooling and frameworks, enabling our precise recommendations to be easily actioned and even automated

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