Instances›AWS EC2›r6a›r6a.16xlarge
Compute
vCPUs64
Memory512 GiB
Mem / vCPU8.00 GiB
ProcessorEPYC 7R13 Processor
Clock speed3.6 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
TypeEBS only
Bandwidth20,000 Mbps
Throughput2500 MB/s
IOPS80,000
Networking
Performance25 Gigabit
Max ENIs15
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
r6a.large2 vCPU · 16 GiB
r6a.xlarge4 vCPU · 32 GiB
r6a.2xlarge8 vCPU · 64 GiB
r6a.4xlarge16 vCPU · 128 GiB
r6a.8xlarge32 vCPU · 256 GiB
r6a.12xlarge48 vCPU · 384 GiB
r6a.16xlarge64 vCPU · 512 GiB
r6a.24xlarge96 vCPU · 768 GiB
r6a.32xlarge128 vCPU · 1024 GiB
r6a.48xlarge192 vCPU · 1536 GiB
r6a.metal192 vCPU · 1536 GiB
r6a.16xlarge

The r6a.16xlarge is a memory-optimized AWS EC2 instance: 64 vCPU and 512 GiB of memory, 8.00 GiB per vCPU. In the name, "r" stands for RAM, "6" is the generation, "a" marks AMD processors and "16xlarge" is the size within the r6a family. It runs on AMD EPYC 7R13 Processor at 3.6 GHz, and AWS introduced it in July 2022. AWS has since shipped r7a, r8a and r9g; r7a.16xlarge is the direct replacement at this size, scoring 1,992,631 CoreMark/s against this instance's 1,375,457 — roughly 45% more throughput for the same vCPU count. No single Spot node covers 64 vCPU and 512 GiB, so the equivalent is a fleet: 4 × mh.vs1.2xlarge, 64 vCPU and 512 GiB in total, $3.63/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.084/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

r6a.16xlarge gives you 64 vCPU and 512 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, mh.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 128 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 512 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$3.629$0.859$2.401$1.646$0.084
$3.545 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.084
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.524
Hong Kong$0.084
Sydney, Australia$4.349$1.781$2.874$1.976$0.084
$4.265 savings
London, UK$4.262$0.624$2.826$1.927$0.524
$3.738 savings
US West, San Jose$4.032$0.774$2.667$1.829$0.008
$4.024 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.968
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Large JVM heaps and application servers that hold state
  • ●OLAP and business intelligence query engines
  • ●Real-time analytics over hot datasets
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 512 GiB of RAM
  • ●Parallel work that can occupy 64 vCPU
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 25 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 4 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. r7a.16xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 512 GiB of RAM
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 64 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●Local NVMe or instance-store disk is a hard requirement
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●CPU-bound work. You are paying for memory this workload will not use.
Stop overpaying AWS. This compute costs $2,649/mo on AWS vs $61/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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