Instances›AWS EC2›c1›c1.xlarge
Compute
vCPUs8
Memory7 GiB
Mem / vCPU0.88 GiB
ProcessorXeon Family
Clock speed1.8 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
Type4 × 420 GB HDD
Bandwidth1,000 Mbps
Throughput125 MB/s
IOPS8,000
Networking
PerformanceHigh
Max ENIs4
IPv6No
GPUNone
Family sizes
c1.medium2 vCPU · 1.7 GiB
c1.xlarge8 vCPU · 7 GiB
c1.xlarge

The c1.xlarge pairs 8 vCPU with 7 GiB of RAM, the 0.88 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a compute-optimized instance. In the name, "c" stands for compute, "1" is the generation and "xlarge" is the size within the c1 family. It runs on Intel Xeon Family at 1.8 GHz, and AWS introduced it in May 2008. AWS has since shipped c3, c4, c5 and c6i; c3.xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. ch.vs1.xlarge on Rackspace Spot lines up one-for-one: 8 vCPU and 16 GiB, $0.520/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.006/hr on Rackspace Spot.

Match qualityNo local disk

c1.xlarge comes with 4 × 420 GB HDD attached to the machine. Rackspace Spot nodes use network storage only, so that disk does not come with it.

If you were using the local disk as fast scratch space — temporary files, a local cache, an index — you will need a persistent volume or object storage instead, and both are slower to read. If it was just extra space you never depended on, nothing changes.

Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$0.520$0.152$0.364$0.006
$0.514 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.061
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.041
Hong Kong$0.061
Sydney, Australia$0.655$0.184$0.488$0.016
$0.639 savings
London, UK$0.021
US West, San Jose$0.592$0.078$0.444$0.001
$0.591 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.061
US East, N. Virginia 2$0.520$0.152$0.364$0.081
$0.439 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Game servers and matchmaking
  • ●Batch processing and CI/CD runners
  • ●Video encoding and transcoding
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 7 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 4 × 420 GB of local SSD scratch space
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. c3.xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 7 GiB of RAM
  • ●More than 0.88 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●Memory-hungry applications. A memory-optimized family gives more RAM per dollar.
$380/mo on AWS on-demand against $4/mo on Rackspace Spot for the equivalent — market-priced, not list-priced.
  • 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