Instances›AWS EC2›m5dn›m5dn.16xlarge
Compute
vCPUs64
Memory256 GiB
Mem / vCPU4.00 GiB
ProcessorXeon Platinum 8259
Clock speed3.1 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
Type4 × 600 GB NVMe SSD
Bandwidth13,600 Mbps
Throughput1700 MB/s
IOPS60,000
Networking
Performance75 Gigabit
Max ENIs15
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
m5dn.large2 vCPU · 8 GiB
m5dn.xlarge4 vCPU · 16 GiB
m5dn.2xlarge8 vCPU · 32 GiB
m5dn.4xlarge16 vCPU · 64 GiB
m5dn.8xlarge32 vCPU · 128 GiB
m5dn.12xlarge48 vCPU · 192 GiB
m5dn.16xlarge64 vCPU · 256 GiB
m5dn.24xlarge96 vCPU · 384 GiB
m5dn.metal96 vCPU · 384 GiB
m5dn.16xlarge

The m5dn.16xlarge pairs 64 vCPU with 256 GiB of RAM, the 4.00 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a general-purpose instance. In the name, "m" is the general-purpose line, "5" is the generation, "dn" marks local NVMe storage and enhanced networking and "16xlarge" is the size within the m5dn family. It runs on Intel Xeon Platinum 8259 (Cascade Lake) at 3.1 GHz, and AWS introduced it in October 2019. AWS has since shipped m6i, m7i, m8i and m9g; m6i.16xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. Spot's node ladder tops out below this size, so m5dn.16xlarge becomes 4 × gp.vs1.2xlarge (64 vCPU, 256 GiB combined), $4.35/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.164/hr on Rackspace Spot. 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

m5dn.16xlarge gives you 64 vCPU and 256 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, gp.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 64 GiB, so the equivalent here is 4 nodes rather than one.

Spot runs as managed Kubernetes, so a 4-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 64 cores and 256 GiB in one process, it does not.

No local diskm5dn.16xlarge comes with 4 × 600 GB NVMe 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$4.352$1.191$2.742$1.692$0.164
$4.188 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.164
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.204
Hong Kong$0.044
Sydney, Australia$0.644
London, UK$0.884
US West, San Jose$0.604
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.004
US East, N. Virginia 2$4.352$1.191$2.742$1.692$0.604
$3.748 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Microservices and container fleets
  • ●Development, staging and CI environments
  • ●Small to mid-size relational databases
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 4 × 600 GB of local NVMe scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 75 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 4 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. m6i.16xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●More than 4.00 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 64 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●Sustained full-core CPU load. A compute-optimized family costs less per unit of work.
$3,177/mo on AWS on-demand against $120/mo on Rackspace Spot for the 4-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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