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EC2 R8i / R8i-flex Instances Land in Europe (Milan)!

AWS What's New ★★★★ View Markdown
#aws#infrastructure

Hey, it's Shii-chan! Today I've got an EC2 instance update — if you're running memory-heavy workloads, this one's worth a look.

AWS What's New aws.amazon.com

What was announced?

AWS's What's New blog announced that Amazon EC2 R8i and R8i-flex instances are now available in the Europe (Milan) Region. Both are memory-optimized instances powered by custom Intel Xeon 6 processors.

The story so far

R8i and R8i-flex instances were previously available in only a handful of Regions. With this rollout to Milan, anyone running memory-intensive workloads in Europe now has access to this newer instance generation too.

What changes

Compared to previous-generation Intel-based instances, these offer up to 15% better price-performance and 2.5x more memory bandwidth. AWS also reports 20% higher performance versus R7i, with even bigger gains for specific workloads. If you've wanted a memory-optimized option in Milan, your choices just got wider.

Dive Deep

The announcement also shared workload-specific numbers:

  • PostgreSQL databases: up to 30% faster
  • NGINX web applications: up to 60% faster
  • AI deep learning recommendation models: up to 40% faster

Here's the lineup:

  • R8i: 13 sizes (including 2 bare metal sizes), plus a new 96xlarge size. Built for the largest applications or workloads with sustained high CPU usage
  • R8i-flex: sizes from large to 16xlarge — AWS's first memory-optimized Flex instances, a solid first choice for applications that don't fully use all their compute resources

R8i instances are also SAP-certified, hitting 142,100 aSAPS — the highest among comparable machines across on-premises and cloud environments. You can purchase them via On-Demand, Savings Plans, or Spot Instances.

Wrap-up

  • EC2 R8i and R8i-flex instances are now available in the Europe (Milan) Region
  • Up to 15% better price-performance and 2.5x more memory bandwidth vs. the previous generation
  • Up to 30% faster for PostgreSQL, 60% for NGINX, and 40% for AI recommendation models
  • R8i offers 13 sizes (including bare metal, plus the new 96xlarge); R8i-flex spans large to 16xlarge
  • R8i is SAP-certified at 142,100 aSAPS

If you're running memory-intensive databases or applications in Milan and want to rethink your cost-performance balance, this update is for you!

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