Instances›AWS EC2›r8gd›r8gd.12xlarge
Compute
vCPUs48
Memory384 GiB
Mem / vCPU8.00 GiB
ProcessorGraviton4 Processor
Clock speed2.7 GHz
Architecturearm64
Storage
Type3 × 950 GB NVMe SSD
Bandwidth15,000 Mbps
Throughput1875 MB/s
IOPS60,000
Networking
Performance22.5 Gigabit
Max ENIs8
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
r8gd.medium1 vCPU · 8 GiB
r8gd.large2 vCPU · 16 GiB
r8gd.xlarge4 vCPU · 32 GiB
r8gd.2xlarge8 vCPU · 64 GiB
r8gd.4xlarge16 vCPU · 128 GiB
r8gd.8xlarge32 vCPU · 256 GiB
r8gd.12xlarge48 vCPU · 384 GiB
r8gd.16xlarge64 vCPU · 512 GiB
r8gd.24xlarge96 vCPU · 768 GiB
r8gd.metal-24xl96 vCPU · 768 GiB
r8gd.48xlarge192 vCPU · 1536 GiB
r8gd.metal-48xl192 vCPU · 1536 GiB
r8gd.12xlarge

The r8gd.12xlarge pairs 48 vCPU with 384 GiB of RAM, the 8.00 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a memory-optimized instance. In the name, "r" stands for RAM, "8" is the generation, "gd" marks AWS Graviton (ARM) processors and local NVMe storage and "12xlarge" is the size within the r8gd family. It runs on AWS Graviton4 Processor at 2.7 GHz, and AWS introduced it in April 2025. AWS has since shipped r9gd; r9gd.12xlarge is the direct replacement at this size. Spot's node ladder tops out below this size, so r8gd.12xlarge becomes 3 × mh.vs1.2xlarge (48 vCPU, 384 GiB combined), $3.53/hr on AWS in US East (N. Virginia), from $0.063/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

r8gd.12xlarge gives you 48 vCPU and 384 GiB in a single machine. The largest comparable Spot node, mh.vs1.2xlarge, is 16 vCPU and 128 GiB, so the equivalent here is 3 nodes rather than one.

Spot runs as managed Kubernetes, so a 3-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 48 cores and 384 GiB in one process, it does not.

x86_64 onlyr8gd.12xlarge is Graviton (arm64) and Rackspace Spot has no arm64 nodes, so you'd be moving to x86. You'll need x86 builds of your images, and per-core speed differs between the chips — worth testing before you decide how many nodes to run.
No local diskr8gd.12xlarge comes with 3 × 950 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$3.527$3.476$0.063
$3.464 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.063
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.393
Hong Kong$4.287$0.063
$4.224 savings
Sydney, Australia$4.059$0.406$0.063
$3.996 savings
London, UK$4.139$0.556$0.393
$3.747 savings
US West, San Jose$3.968$1.158$0.006
$3.962 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.726
When to use it
Good for
  • ●OLAP and business intelligence query engines
  • ●Real-time analytics over hot datasets
  • ●Database instances that keep the working set in RAM
  • ●Workloads that fit inside 384 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 3 × 950 GB of local NVMe scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 22.5 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 3 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●The working set needs more than 384 GiB of RAM
  • ●You cannot rebuild x86-only binaries or vendor images for aarch64
  • ●The work is single-threaded. Most of these 48 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
  • ●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
$2,575/mo on AWS on-demand against $46/mo on Rackspace Spot for the 3-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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