Instances›AWS EC2›m5dn›m5dn.metal
Compute
vCPUs96
Memory384 GiB
Mem / vCPU4.00 GiB
ProcessorXeon Platinum 8259
Clock speed3.1 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
Type4 × 900 GB NVMe SSD
Bandwidth19,000 Mbps
Throughput2375 MB/s
IOPS80,000
Networking
Performance100 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.metal

The m5dn.metal is a general-purpose AWS EC2 instance: 96 vCPU and 384 GiB of memory, 4.00 GiB per vCPU. In the name, "m" is the general-purpose line, "5" is the generation, "dn" marks local NVMe storage and enhanced networking and "metal" 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 February 2021. AWS has since shipped m6i, m7i, m8i and m9g; m6i.metal is the direct replacement at this size. No single Spot node covers 96 vCPU and 384 GiB, so the equivalent is a fleet: 6 × gp.vs1.2xlarge, 96 vCPU and 384 GiB in total, $6.53/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.246/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 qualityVirtualised, not bare metal

m5dn.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 (6 × gp.vs1.2xlarge, 96 vCPU, 384 GiB), but not the dedicated hardware. If you picked m5dn.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 m5dn, it is the same compute for a lot less.

Runs as a fleetNo single Spot node has 96 vCPU; the largest comparable one has 16. So this runs as 6 nodes. That works if your workload already spreads across machines, and doesn't if one process needs all the cores together.
No local diskm5dn.metal comes with 4 × 900 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$6.528$1.985$4.113$2.538$0.246
$6.282 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.246
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.306
Hong Kong$0.066
Sydney, Australia$0.966
London, UK$1.326
US West, San Jose$0.906
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.006
US East, N. Virginia 2$6.528$1.985$4.113$2.538$0.906
$5.622 savings
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Small to mid-size relational databases
  • ●Backend services with no single dominant resource
  • ●Queue workers and scheduled jobs
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 384 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 4 × 900 GB of local NVMe scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 100 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 6 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. m6i.metal is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 384 GiB of RAM
  • ●You need dedicated hardware. Rackspace Spot sells virtualised compute only.
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 96 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.
$4,765/mo on AWS on-demand against $180/mo on Rackspace Spot for the 6-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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