Instances›AWS EC2›c7a›c7a.32xlarge
Compute
vCPUs128
Memory256 GiB
Mem / vCPU2.00 GiB
ProcessorEPYC 9R14 Processor
Clock speedUp to 3.7 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
TypeEBS only
Bandwidth40,000 Mbps
Throughput5000 MB/s
IOPS160,000
Networking
Performance50 Gigabit
Max ENIs15
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
c7a.medium1 vCPU · 2 GiB
c7a.large2 vCPU · 4 GiB
c7a.xlarge4 vCPU · 8 GiB
c7a.2xlarge8 vCPU · 16 GiB
c7a.4xlarge16 vCPU · 32 GiB
c7a.8xlarge32 vCPU · 64 GiB
c7a.12xlarge48 vCPU · 96 GiB
c7a.16xlarge64 vCPU · 128 GiB
c7a.24xlarge96 vCPU · 192 GiB
c7a.32xlarge128 vCPU · 256 GiB
c7a.48xlarge192 vCPU · 384 GiB
c7a.metal-48xl192 vCPU · 384 GiB
c7a.32xlarge

The c7a.32xlarge is a compute-optimized AWS EC2 instance: 128 vCPU and 256 GiB of memory, 2.00 GiB per vCPU. In the name, "c" stands for compute, "7" is the generation, "a" marks AMD processors and "32xlarge" is the size within the c7a family. It runs on AMD EPYC 9R14 Processor at Up to 3.7 GHz, and AWS introduced it in October 2023. AWS has since shipped c8a and c9g; c8i.32xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. No single Spot node covers 128 vCPU and 256 GiB, so the equivalent is a fleet: 8 × ch.vs1.2xlarge, 128 vCPU and 256 GiB in total, 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

c7a.32xlarge gives you 128 vCPU and 256 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, ch.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 32 GiB, so the equivalent here is 8 nodes rather than one.

Spot runs as managed Kubernetes, so a 8-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 128 cores and 256 GiB in one process, it does not.

Pricing by region
1 hr
RegionAWS on-demandAWS Spot1-yr Reserved3-yr ReservedRackspace SpotYou save
US East, N. Virginia$6.569$2.186$4.345$2.892$0.328
$6.241 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.088
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.888
Hong Kong$0.328
Sydney, Australia$0.328
London, UK$7.805$2.192$5.153$3.547$1.048
$6.757 savings
US West, San Jose$8.191$1.164$5.410$3.724$0.016
$8.175 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.976
US East, N. Virginia 2$6.569$2.186$4.345$2.892$1.296
$5.273 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 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. c8i.32xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●Local NVMe or instance-store disk is a hard requirement
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●Memory-hungry applications. A memory-optimized family gives more RAM per dollar.
  • ●More than 2.00 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
$4,795/mo on AWS on-demand against $239/mo on Rackspace Spot for the 8-node 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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