EC2 Instance Launch Types¶

EC2 Instance Launch Types Hands On

Deep Dive¶

• R - applications that need a lot of RAM - in-memory caches
• C - applications that needs good CPU - compute / databases
• M - applications that are balanced - general / web app
• I - applications that needs good local I/O - storage
• G - applications that need a GPU - video rendering / machine learning

• T2 / T3 - burstable instaces

  • AWS has the concept of burstable instances
  • Burst means that overall, the instance has OK CPU performance
  • When the machine needs to process something unexpected (a spike in load for example), it can burst, and CPU can be VERY good.
  • If the machine bursts, it utilizes "burst credits"
  • If all the credits are gone, the CPU becomes bad
  • If the machine stops bursting, credits are accumulated over time
  • Amazin to handle unexpected traffic and getting the instance that it will handle it correctly
  • If your instance consistently runs low on credit, you need to move to a different kind of non-burstable instance

• T2 / T3 - unlimited

  • It is possible to have an unlimited burst credit balance
  • You pay extra money if you go over your credit balance, but you don't lose performance
  • Overall, it is a new offering, so be careful, costs could go high if you're not monitoring the health of your instances

We can see all the instance types available at https://ec2instances.info/.