Instances›AWS EC2›z1d›z1d.6xlarge
Compute
vCPUs24
Memory192 GiB
Mem / vCPU8.00 GiB
ProcessorXeon Platinum 8151
Clock speed4 GHz
Architecturex86_64
Storage
Type1 × 900 GB NVMe SSD
Bandwidth9,500 Mbps
Throughput1187.5 MB/s
IOPS40,000
Networking
Performance12 Gigabit
Max ENIs8
IPv6Yes
GPUNone
Family sizes
z1d.large2 vCPU · 16 GiB
z1d.xlarge4 vCPU · 32 GiB
z1d.2xlarge8 vCPU · 64 GiB
z1d.3xlarge12 vCPU · 96 GiB
z1d.6xlarge24 vCPU · 192 GiB
z1d.12xlarge48 vCPU · 384 GiB
z1d.metal48 vCPU · 384 GiB
z1d.6xlarge

The z1d.6xlarge pairs 24 vCPU with 192 GiB of RAM, the 8.00 GiB-per-vCPU ratio that marks a memory-optimized instance. In the name, "z" is high clock frequency, "1" is the generation, "d" marks local NVMe storage and "6xlarge" is the size within the z1d family. It runs on Intel Xeon Platinum 8151 at 4 GHz, and AWS introduced it in July 2018. z1d is the current generation of the z family, so there is no newer AWS size to migrate to. Spot's node ladder tops out below this size, so z1d.6xlarge becomes 2 × mh.vs1.2xlarge (32 vCPU, 256 GiB combined), $2.23/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

z1d.6xlarge gives you 24 vCPU and 192 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 24 cores and 192 GiB in one process, it does not.

No local diskz1d.6xlarge comes with 1 × 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$2.232$0.709$1.406$0.921$0.042
$2.190 savings
US Central, Chicagono AWS region$0.042
US Central, Dallasno AWS region$0.262
Hong Kong$0.042
Sydney, Australia$2.712$0.842$1.709$1.128$0.042
$2.670 savings
London, UK$2.636$0.614$1.661$1.108$0.262
$2.374 savings
US West, San Jose$2.532$0.272$1.595$1.094$0.003
$2.529 savings
US Central, Dallas 2no AWS region$0.363
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 192 GiB of RAM
  • ●Jobs that want 1 × 900 GB of local NVMe scratch space
  • ●Network-heavy services — AWS rates this size at 12 Gigabit
  • ●Anything that shards cleanly across 2 nodes, which is how it maps onto Rackspace Spot
Avoid if
  • ●The working set needs more than 192 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 24 vCPU would sit idle.
  • ●GPU or FPGA acceleration is needed
$1,629/mo on AWS on-demand against $31/mo on Rackspace Spot for the 2-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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