Selecting an Instance Type

General Information about Instance Type

Instance Type Overview

Naming

AWS naming of instance types is broken down here:

Choosing an Instance Type

Question	Focus on this
Does the software utilize multiple cores?	mem2_ssd1_v2_x16
How much memory does the software use (per core)?	mem2_ssd1_v2_x16
How much disk space is needed for the software (per core)?	mem2_ssd1_v2_x16
Always use version 2 of an instance type!	mem2_ssd1_v2_x16

Instance Classes and Cores

• Each class (like mem1) is scaled so that each core in an instance has access to the same amount of memory/disk space:

• Example: mem1_ssd1_v2_x2:

• 4 Gb total memory / 2 cores =

• 2 Gb / Core

• Example: mem1_ssd1_v2_x8:

• 16 Gb total memory / 8 cores =

• 2 Gb / core

Choosing a Good Instance Type

• Scale usage/instance type according to usage statistics and dataset size

• If it doesn't utilize all resources

• Use a smaller instance type

• Runs out of memory, or is slow

• Consider using a larger instance type

Multistep Workflows

• Each stage of a workflow is run by a different set of workers

• Each stage can be customized in terms of instance type