Instances›AWS EC2›c6i›c6i.metal
Compute
vCPUs128
Memory256 GiB
Mem / vCPU2.00 GiB
ProcessorXeon 8375C
Clock speed3.5 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
TypeEBS only
Bandwidth40,000 Mbps
Throughput5000 MB/s
IOPS160,000
Networking
Performance50 Gigabit
Max ENIs15
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
c6i.large2 vCPU · 4 GiB
c6i.xlarge4 vCPU · 8 GiB
c6i.2xlarge8 vCPU · 16 GiB
c6i.4xlarge16 vCPU · 32 GiB
c6i.8xlarge32 vCPU · 64 GiB
c6i.12xlarge48 vCPU · 96 GiB
c6i.16xlarge64 vCPU · 128 GiB
c6i.24xlarge96 vCPU · 192 GiB
c6i.32xlarge128 vCPU · 256 GiB
c6i.metal128 vCPU · 256 GiB
c6i.metal

c6i.metal is AWS's compute-optimized EC2 size at 128 vCPU and 256 GiB. In the name, "c" stands for compute, "6" is the generation, "i" marks Intel processors and "metal" is the size within the c6i family. It runs on Intel Xeon 8375C (Ice Lake) at 3.5 GHz, and AWS introduced it in November 2021. AWS has since shipped c7i, c8i and c9g; c7g.metal is the direct replacement at this size. The closest Spot shape is ch.vs1.2xlarge at 16 vCPU, so this instance maps to 8 of them — 128 vCPU and 256 GiB across the fleet, about 94% 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 qualityVirtualised, not bare metal

c6i.metal is a full physical server — no virtualisation layer in the way, direct access to the hardware, and a socket count that licensing can verify.

Rackspace Spot no longer sells bare metal; everything in the catalog is a virtual machine. You get the same cores and memory (8 × ch.vs1.2xlarge, 128 vCPU, 256 GiB), but not the dedicated hardware. If you picked c6i.metal because you needed the real machine — nested virtualisation, per-socket licensing, low-level profiling — this is not a replacement at any price. If you picked it because it is the biggest c6i, it is the same compute for a lot less.

Runs as a fleetNo single Spot node has 128 vCPU; the largest comparable one has 16. So this runs as 8 nodes. That works if your workload already spreads across machines, and doesn't if one process needs all the cores together.
Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$5.440$1.525$3.599$2.395$0.328
$5.112 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.088
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.888
Hong Kong$6.912$4.572$3.135$0.328
$6.584 savings
Sydney, Australia$7.104$2.450$4.691$3.228$0.328
$6.776 savings
London, UK$6.464$0.799$4.267$2.938$1.048
$5.416 savings
US West, San Jose$6.784$0.894$4.481$3.084$0.016
$6.768 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.976
US East, N. Virginia 2$5.440$1.525$3.599$2.395$1.296
$4.144 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 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●Parallel work that can occupy 128 vCPU
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 50 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 8 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. c7g.metal is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●You need dedicated hardware. Rackspace Spot sells virtualised compute only.
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 128 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●Local NVMe or instance-store disk is a hard requirement
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
Stop overpaying AWS. This compute costs $3,971/mo on AWS vs $239/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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