Amazon Web Services has announced that new cloud instances powered by second generation AMD EPYC chips have entered general availability.
The new instances, underpinned by AMD EPYC Rome processors, are ideal for memory-intensive cloud computing workloads such as batch processing, analytics, data transformations and web applications.
According to Amazon, the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) C5a instances cost 10% less than comparable services and also become the cheapest product per x86 virtual CPU of any in the EC2 family.
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The new instances are available immediately in eight configurations, across the following AWS regions: US East, US West, Europe and Asia Pacific.
AMD EPYC cloud instances
AWS has worked with AMD for the past 18 months, launching a range of cloud instances built on its AWS Nitro System and powered by custom versions of first generation AMD EPYC processors.
While previous AMD-powered AWS instances were designed for general purpose workloads or memory optimization, the new EC2 C5a instances are specifically designed for compute intensive activities that can capitalise on the processor’s high core count.
The processors driving the new AWS instances run at frequencies of up to 3.3 GHz, with a 7nm process node and expanded memory bandwidth. The most powerful of the eight available options offers 96 virtual CPUs and up to 20 Gbps of network bandwidth.
“The 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors deliver the levels of performance required for our customers to confidently bring compute-focused workloads to the cloud,” said Forrest Norrod, SVP and GM of AMD’s Data Center and Embedded Solutions Group.
“With the new Amazon EC2 C5a instances, we are strategically expanding our presence and capabilities with AWS. Even more importantly, together we are helping to continuously improve the end user cloud experience,” he added.
Users of existing EC2 instances are also able to migrate workloads to AMD-based variants with little effort, should they stand to benefit.
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Via ZDNet
