Instances›AWS EC2›a1›a1.large
Compute
vCPUs2
Memory4 GiB
Mem / vCPU2.00 GiB
ProcessorGraviton Processor
Clock speed2.3 GHz
Architecturearm64
Storage
TypeEBS only
Bandwidth3,500 Mbps
Throughput437.5 MB/s
IOPS20,000
Networking
PerformanceUp to 10 Gigabit
Max ENIs3
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
a1.medium1 vCPU · 2 GiB
a1.large2 vCPU · 4 GiB
a1.xlarge4 vCPU · 8 GiB
a1.2xlarge8 vCPU · 16 GiB
a1.4xlarge16 vCPU · 32 GiB
a1.metal16 vCPU · 32 GiB
a1.large

The a1.large pairs 2 vCPU with 4 GiB of RAM, the 2.00 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a general-purpose instance. In the name, "1" is the generation and "large" is the size within the a1 family. It runs on AWS Graviton Processor at 2.3 GHz, and AWS introduced it in November 2018. a1 is the current generation of the a family, so there is no newer AWS size to migrate to. gp.vs1.medium on Rackspace Spot lines up one-for-one: 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, $0.051/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.002/hr on Rackspace Spot.

Match qualityx86 substitution

a1.large is Graviton (arm64). Rackspace Spot does not have arm64 servers, so gp.vs1.medium is an x86_64 substitute with similar specs.

You will need x86 builds of your container images. Most software rebuilds without changes, but anything with compiled native code needs a real rebuild rather than a retag. Speed per core also differs between the two chips, so it is worth testing before deciding how many nodes to run.

Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$0.051$0.050$0.032$0.022$0.002
$0.049 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.016
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.006
Hong Kong$0.002
Sydney, Australia$0.067$0.067$0.042$0.029$0.006
$0.061 savings
London, UK$0.041
US West, San Jose$0.011
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.021
US East, N. Virginia 2$0.051$0.050$0.032$0.022$0.011
$0.040 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Backend services with no single dominant resource
  • ●Queue workers and scheduled jobs
  • ●Web and application servers with mixed CPU and memory demand
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 4 GiB of RAM
  • ●Small, steady services that do not need more than 2 vCPU
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at Up to 10 Gigabit
Avoid if
  • ●The working set needs more than 4 GiB of RAM
  • ●You cannot rebuild x86-only binaries or vendor images for aarch64
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●Sustained full-core CPU load. A compute-optimized family costs less per unit of work.
  • ●More than 2.00 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
  • ●Local NVMe or instance-store disk is a hard requirement
Stop overpaying AWS. This compute costs $37/mo on AWS vs $1/mo on Rackspace Spot.
  • Spot sells spare capacity at market prices. It is the cheapest compute on the internet.
  • Prices are set by supply and demand. You pay what the market decides.
  • Compute is delivered as fully managed Kubernetes. All infrastructure is taken care of.
  • Egress costs $0.01/GB after the free allowance. AWS charges $0.09/GB.
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Frequently asked questions