Instances›AWS EC2›r6a›r6a.8xlarge
Compute
vCPUs32
Memory256 GiB
Mem / vCPU8.00 GiB
ProcessorEPYC 7R13 Processor
Clock speed3.6 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
TypeEBS only
Bandwidth10,000 Mbps
Throughput1250 MB/s
IOPS40,000
Networking
Performance12.5 Gigabit
Max ENIs8
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.8xlarge

The r6a.8xlarge pairs 32 vCPU with 256 GiB of RAM, the 8.00 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a memory-optimized instance. In the name, "r" stands for RAM, "6" is the generation, "a" marks AMD processors and "8xlarge" 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.8xlarge is the direct replacement at this size, scoring 1,076,113 CoreMark/s against this instance's 648,068 — roughly 66% more throughput for the same vCPU count. Spot's node ladder tops out below this size, so r6a.8xlarge becomes 2 × mh.vs1.2xlarge (32 vCPU, 256 GiB combined), $1.81/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.042/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.8xlarge gives you 32 vCPU and 256 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, mh.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 128 GiB, so the equivalent here is 2 nodes rather than one.

Spot runs as managed Kubernetes, so a 2-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 32 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$1.814$0.456$1.200$0.823$0.042
$1.772 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.042
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.262
Hong Kong$0.042
Sydney, Australia$2.174$0.897$1.437$0.988$0.042
$2.132 savings
London, UK$2.131$0.460$1.413$0.964$0.262
$1.869 savings
US West, San Jose$2.016$0.657$1.334$0.914$0.004
$2.012 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.484
When to use it
Good for
  • ●Database instances that keep the working set in RAM
  • ●Graph and search workloads with large indexes
  • ●In-memory caches such as Redis and Memcached
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●Parallel work that can occupy 32 vCPU
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 12.5 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 2 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●Starting a new deployment. r7a.8xlarge is the newer generation at this size.
  • ●The working set needs more than 256 GiB of RAM
  • ●CPU-bound work. You are paying for memory this workload will not use.
  • ●More than 8.00 GiB of RAM per vCPU is needed — that ratio is fixed for the whole family
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 32 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●Local NVMe or instance-store disk is a hard requirement
Stop overpaying AWS. This compute costs $1,325/mo on AWS vs $31/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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