EC2 instances are offered in different families optimized for specific workloads.
Naming convention:
Example:
m5.2xlargem→ Instance class (family)
5→ Generation
2xlarge→ Size within the class
General Purpose
Balanced compute, memory, and networking. Suitable for diverse workloads such as web servers or code repositories.
Examples: Mac, T4g, T3, T3a, T2, M6g, M5, M5a, M5n, M5zn, M4, A1.
Compute Optimized
High-performance processors for compute-heavy workloads: batch processing, media transcoding, HPC, scientific modeling, ML, gaming servers.
Examples: C6g, C6gn, C5, C5a, C5n, C4.
Memory Optimized
Designed for processing large datasets in memory: high-performance databases, in-memory caches, BI analytics, real-time big data processing.
Examples: R6g, R5, R5a, R5b, R5n, R4, X1e, X1, High Memory, z1d.
Storage Optimized
For storage-intensive workloads requiring high sequential read/write on local storage: OLTP systems, databases, data warehouses, distributed file systems.
Examples: I3, I3en, D2, D3, D3en, H1.