EC2 R8in/R8ib Instances Expand to Tokyo, Frankfurt, and Ireland

High-performance EC2 instances now reach more continents, but the highest bandwidth tiers are still restricted.

What changed

• EC2 R8in, R8ib, R8idn, and R8idb instance types are now available in the AWS Asia Pacific (Tokyo) and Europe (Frankfurt, Ireland) regions.
• These instances feature sixth-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and AWS Nitro cards.
• R8in/R8idn instances offer up to 600 Gbps network bandwidth, and R8ib/R8idb instances offer up to 300 Gbps EBS bandwidth.

Why it matters

This expansion brings AWS's highest-performing EC2 instances for compute-intensive, network-bound, and storage-intensive workloads to a broader global footprint. For workloads like real-time big data analytics, large-scale in-memory caches, and Telco applications (5G UPF), the increased network bandwidth (up to 600 Gbps) and EFA support are critical for performance. Similarly, workloads demanding high block storage performance, such as high-performance file systems and NoSQL databases, benefit from the up to 300 Gbps EBS bandwidth. The inclusion of these instances in Tokyo and Frankfurt/Ireland allows for better latency and compliance for customers operating in or near these regions. This is a significant step for distributed compute and data analytics workloads previously constrained by regional availability.

The catch

Watch out: While the announcement states these instances are available in new regions, the highest bandwidth tiers (600 Gbps network and 300 Gbps EBS) are explicitly tied to specific instance sizes. For example, EFA networking, crucial for tightly coupled clusters, is only supported on the 48xlarge and 96xlarge (and metal variants) sizes. Smaller instance sizes, while still powerful, will not achieve these peak performance numbers. Furthermore, the announcement lists Europe (Spain) as a region for R8in/R8ib, but Spain was not listed in the initial expansion announcement for the other instance types, creating some ambiguity about exact availability across all listed regions.

Ship it

If you are running compute-intensive workloads such as distributed web-scale caches or AI/ML cluster caching fleets and are operating in or near the Asia Pacific (Tokyo) or Europe (Frankfurt, Ireland) regions, evaluate migrating to R8in or R8ib instances. Ensure your workload can utilize the higher network bandwidth and consider the specific instance sizes (e.g., 48xlarge, 96xlarge) to achieve the maximum performance benefits. Pairs with Amazon EBS and Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA).

Bottom line: High-performance EC2 instances are now closer to more users, but verify instance size for peak bandwidth.

— Filed to /aws