AWS News Blog
EC2 Instance Update – Two More Sizes of M5 & R5 Instances
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When I introduced the Nitro system last year I said:
The Nitro system is a rich collection of building blocks that can be assembled in many different ways, giving us the flexibility to design and rapidly deliver EC2 instance types with an ever-broadening selection of compute, storage, memory, and networking options. We will deliver new instance types more quickly than ever in the months to come, with the goal of helping you to build, migrate, and run even more types of workloads.
Today I am happy to make good on that promise, with the introduction of two additional sizes of the Intel and AMD-powered M5 and R5 instances, including optional NVMe storage. These additional sizes will make it easier for you to find an instance size that is a perfect match for your workload.
M5 Instances
These instances are designed for general-purpose workloads such as web servers, app servers, dev/test environments, gaming, logging, and media processing. Here are the specs:
| Instance Name | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | EBS-Optimized Bandwidth | Network Bandwidth |
| m5.8xlarge |
32 | 128 GiB | EBS Only | 5 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| m5.16xlarge |
64 | 256 GiB | EBS Only | 10 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
| m5a.8xlarge |
32 | 128 GiB | EBS Only | 3.5 Gbps | Up to 10 Gbps |
| m5a.16xlarge |
64 | 256 GiB | EBS Only | 7 Gbps | 12 Gbps |
| m5d.8xlarge |
32 | 128 GiB | 2 x 600 GB NVMe SSD | 5 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| m5d.16xlarge |
64 | 256 GiB | 4 x 600 GB NVMe SSD | 10 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
If you are currently using m4.10xlarge or m4.16xlarge instances, you now have several upgrade paths.
To learn more, read M5 – The Next Generation of General-Purpose EC2 Instances, New Lower-Cost, AMD-Powered M5a and R5a EC2 Instances, and EC2 Instance Update – M5 Instances with Local NVMe Storage.
R5 Instances
These instances are designed for data mining, in-memory analytics, caching, simulations, and other memory-intensive workloads. Here are the specs:
| Instance Name | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | EBS-Optimized Bandwidth | Network Bandwidth |
| r5.8xlarge |
32 | 256 GiB | EBS Only | 5 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| r5.16xlarge |
64 | 512 GiB | EBS Only | 10 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
| r5a.8xlarge |
32 | 256 GiB | EBS Only | 3.5 Gbps | Up to 10 Gbps |
| r5a.16xlarge |
64 | 512 GiB | EBS Only | 7 Gbps | 12 Gbps |
| r5d.8xlarge |
32 | 256 GiB | 2 x 600 GB NVMe SSD | 5 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| r5d.16xlarge |
64 | 512 GiB | 4 x 600 GB NVMe SSD | 10 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
If you are currently using r4.8xlarge or r4.16xlarge instances, you now have several easy and powerful upgrade paths.
To learn more, read Amazon EC2 Instance Update – Faster Processors and More Memory.
Things to Know
Here a couple of things to keep in mind when you use these new instances:
Processor Choice – You can choose between Intel and AMD EPYC processors (instance names include an “a”). Read my post, New Lower-Cost AMD-Powered M5a and R5a EC2 Instances, to learn more.
AMIs – You can use the same AMIs that you use with your existing M5 and R5 instances.
Regions – The new sizes are available in all AWS Regions where the existing sizes are already available.
Local NVMe Storage – On “d” instances with local NVMe storage, the devices are encrypted using the XTS-AES-256 block cipher and a unique key. Each key is destroyed when the instance is stopped or terminated. The local devices have the same lifetime as the instance they are attached to, and do not stick around after the instance has been stopped or terminated.
Available Now
The new sizes are available in On-Demand, Spot, and Reserved Instance form and you can start using them today!
— Jeff;