Instances›AWS EC2›c3›c3.8xlarge
Compute
vCPUs32
Memory60 GiB
Mem / vCPU1.88 GiB
ProcessorXeon E5-2680 v2
Clock speed2.8 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
Type2 × 320 GB SSD
BandwidthN/A
ThroughputN/A
IOPS0
Networking
Performance10 Gigabit
Max ENIs8
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
c3.large2 vCPU · 3.75 GiB
c3.xlarge4 vCPU · 7.5 GiB
c3.2xlarge8 vCPU · 15 GiB
c3.4xlarge16 vCPU · 30 GiB
c3.8xlarge32 vCPU · 60 GiB
c3.8xlarge

c3.8xlarge is AWS's compute-optimized EC2 size at 32 vCPU and 60 GiB. In the name, "c" stands for compute, "3" is the generation and "8xlarge" is the size within the c3 family. It runs on Intel Xeon E5-2680 v2 (Ivy Bridge) at 2.8 GHz, and AWS introduced it in November 2013. AWS has since shipped c4, c5, c6i and c7i; c4.8xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. The closest Spot shape is ch.vs1.2xlarge at 16 vCPU, so this instance maps to 2 of them — 32 vCPU and 64 GiB across the fleet, about 95% below the US East (N. Virginia) on-demand rate. Spot delivers compute as managed Kubernetes, so a node pool of that size is the native shape of the answer rather than a workaround — provided the workload scales horizontally.

Match qualityScale-out match

c3.8xlarge gives you 32 vCPU and 60 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, ch.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 32 GiB, so the equivalent here is 2 nodes rather than one.

Spot runs as managed Kubernetes, so a 2-node pool is the normal way to run things rather than a workaround. If your workload already sits behind a load balancer, a queue or a scheduler, it spreads across them without changes. If it needs all 32 cores and 60 GiB in one process, it does not.

No local diskc3.8xlarge comes with 2 × 320 GB SSD attached to the machine. Spot nodes use network storage only, so that disk doesn't come with it. If you were using it as fast scratch space, you'd move to a persistent volume or object storage, which are slower to read.
Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$1.680$0.479$1.168$0.082
$1.598 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.022
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.222
Hong Kong$0.082
Sydney, Australia$2.117$0.742$1.568$0.082
$2.035 savings
London, UK$0.262
US West, San Jose$1.912$0.595$1.440$0.956$0.004
$1.908 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.244
US East, N. Virginia 2$1.680$0.479$1.168$0.324
$1.356 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●High-traffic web and API serving
  • ●Scientific modelling and simulation
  • ●Ad serving and real-time bidding
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 60 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 2 × 320 GB of local SSD scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 10 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 2 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. c4.8xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 60 GiB of RAM
  • ●Memory-hungry applications. A memory-optimized family gives more RAM per dollar.
  • ●More than 1.88 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 32 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
c3.8xlarge runs $1,226/mo on AWS on-demand. The 2-node equivalent on Rackspace Spot: $60/mo.
  • 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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