AWS introduced EC2 C6i instances in October 2021 as a generational improvement over the C5 family of compute-intensive instances. All C6i and C6id instances are powered by third-generation Intel Xeon 8375C (Ice Lake) scalable (up to 3.5 GHz) processors, and are optimized for use with EBS storage and enhanced networking.

In addition to offering up to 15% better compute performance for the same spend, the C6i family also boasts always-on, transient-key memory encryption through Intel Total Memory Encryption (TME). To enable maximum resource efficiency, C6i instances are built on the AWS Nitro System (dedicated hardware running a minimal hypervisor to maximize the amount of memory and CPU available to your instances). Finally, C6i instances support Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX-512) to enable the quickest execution of cryptographic algorithms.

When to use Amazon EC2 c6i instances

C6i instance high-performance Intel processors are ideal for compute-intensive use cases like:

  • Workload batch processing
  • Media transcoding
  • Video encoding
  • High-performance computing (HPC)
  • Scientific modeling
  • Gaming servers, including large-scale multiplayer gaming
  • Advertising servers
  • Machine learning inference
  • Distributed analytics

Cloud cost management from Umbrella automatically recommends when an older-generation instance (like one in the EC2 C5 family) should be upgraded to a C6i instance for your compute-intensive workload.

Amazon EC2 c6i.8xlarge details and pricing options

Amazon EC2 c6i.8xlarge instances are compute-optimized, running on Intel Xeon 8375C (Ice Lake) processors, and offer 32 vCPUs, 64 GiB of memory, and 12 Gibps of bandwidth.

API Name c6i.8xlarge
vCPUs 32
Memory 64 GiB
Memory per vCPU 2 GiB
Processor Intel Xeon 8375C
Clock speed 3 GHz
CPU architecture x86-64
Network performance 12.5 Gbps
EBS max bandwidth 10 Gbps
EBS throughput 1250 MB/s
Linux On-Demand pricing $1.3600 per Hour
Linux 1 year Reserved pricing $0.8568 per Hour
Linux 3 year Reserved pricing $0.5544 per Hour
Linux Spot pricing $0.6544 per Hour
* Prices shown are for the US East (Northern Virginia) AWS Region. Prices for reserved instances are for 1-year and 3-year “Partial Upfront” payment options.

Amazon EC2 C6id instances

Introduced in May 2022, C6id instances add the ability to the C6i family to leverage up to 7.6 TB of local NVMe-based solid state drive (SSD) block-level storage. They offer significant improvement in performance-for-price over previous-generation C5d compute-intensive SSD instances.

High level benefits over C5d instances include:

  • Up to 15% performance-for-price
  • 138% higher TB storage per vCPU
  • 56% lower cost per TB
  • Always-on memory encryption using Intel Total Memory Encryption (TME)
  • Up to 50 Gbps of networking speed 
  • Up to 40 Gbps of bandwidth to Amazon EBS

The largest c6id.32xlarge size is compatible with the Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) EC2 network interface to allow low-latency, highly-scalable inter-node communication.

When to use Amazon EC2 C6id instances

Since C6id instances are calibrated to benefit compute-intensive workloads and those that require high-speed, low-latency local storage, they are especially tuned for use cases like:

  • Raster image manipulation and processing
  • Video processing and encoding
  • Multimedia processing and encoding
  • Batch processing of large datasets
  • Large log file processing
  • Apps that need efficient, sizable caches and scratch disks

Umbrella cloud cost management will automatically recommend when an EC2 C6id instance is an optimal match for your compute-intensive workload.

Amazon EC2 c6id.8large details and pricing options

API Name c6i.8xlarge
vCPUs 32
Memory 64 GiB
Memory per vCPU 2 GiB
Storage 1900 GB NVMe SSD
Processor Intel Xeon 8375C
Clock speed 3 GHz
CPU architecture x86-64
Network performance 12.5 Gbps
EBS max bandwidth 10 Gbps
EBS throughput 1250 MB/s
Linux On-Demand pricing $1.6128 per Hour
Linux 1 year Reserved pricing $1.0164 per Hour
Linux 3 year Reserved pricing $0.6240 per Hour
Linux Spot pricing $0.5637 per Hour
* Prices shown are for the US East (Northern Virginia) AWS Region. Prices for reserved instances are for 1-year and 3-year “Partial Upfront” payment options.

Amazon EC2 C6i and C6id product details and pricing

Instance CPU Memory (GiB) Instance Storage (GB) Network Bandwidth (Gbps) EBS Bandwidth (Mbps) On-Demand hourly rate for US East
c6i.large 2 4 EBS-only Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.09
c6i.xlarge 4 8 EBS-only Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.17
c6i.2xlarge 8 16 EBS-only Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.34
c6i.4xlarge 16 32 EBS-only Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.68
c6i.8xlarge 32 64 EBS-only 12.5 10 $1.36
c6i.12xlarge 48 96 EBS-only 18.75 15 $2.04
c6i.16xlarge 64 128 EBS-only 25 20 $2.72
c6i.24xlarge 96 192 EBS-only 37.5 30 $4.08
c6i.32xlarge 128 256 EBS-only 50 40 $5.44
c6i.metal 128 256 EBS-only 50 40 $5.44
c6id.large 2 4 1×118 NVMe SSD Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.10
c6id.xlarge 4 8 1×237 NVMe SSD Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.20
c6id.2xlarge 8 16 1×474 NVMe SSD Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.40
c6id.4xlarge 16 32 1×950 NVMe SSD Up to 12.5 Up to 10 $0.81
c6id.8xlarge 32 64 1×1900 NVMe SSD 12.5 10 $1.61
c6id.12xlarge 48 96 2×1425 NVMe SSD 18.75 15 $2.42
c6id.16xlarge 64 128 2×1900 NVMe SSD 25 20 $3.23
c6id.24xlarge 96 192 4×1425 NVMe SSD 37.5 30 $4.84
c6id.32xlarge 128 256 4×1900 NVMe SSD 50 40 $6.45
c6id.metal 128 256 4×1900 NVMe SSD 50 40 $6.45

C6i and C6id instances are available through the following purchasing options:

  • On-Demand Instances
  • Savings Plans
  • Reserved Instances
  • Spot Instances