m2.xlarge is AWS's memory-optimized EC2 size at 2 vCPU and 17.1 GiB. In the name, "m" is the general-purpose line, "2" is the generation and "xlarge" is the size within the m2 family. It runs on Intel Xeon Family at 2.4 GHz, and AWS introduced it in February 2010. AWS has since shipped m3, m4, m5 and m6i; m3.xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. Rackspace Spot maps this to mh.vs1.medium (2 vCPU, 16 GiB), giving you the same vCPU count and 1.1 GiB less memory, $0.245/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.011/hr on Rackspace Spot.
Match qualityNo local disk
m2.xlarge comes with 1 × 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.
