AWS Officially Launches Low-Cost EC2 T8i Instances with 30% Better Performance than T3

AWS has officially launched the new low-cost burstable instance Amazon EC2 T8i, powered by custom 6th-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Granite Rapids). The core focus of T8i is lowering Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by improving price-performance by up to 30% compared to existing T3 instances.

Performance and Architecture

T8i operates on the AWS Nitro System and offers the following performance improvements over T3:

• Compute performance: Up to 70% improvement
• Network bandwidth: Up to 1.25x increase
• EBS bandwidth: Up to 2.4x increase

These instances are optimized for workloads requiring low levels of CPU utilization, such as premium services, development/testing environments, microservices, and low-traffic websites.

Migration and Specifications

Existing T3 users can immediately benefit from performance improvements by simply switching to T8i, as it maintains the same CPU credit system and lightweight computing options. T8i is available in four sizes: nano, micro, small, and medium, each providing 2 vCPUs per core.

• vCPU to memory ratio: Supports unique ratios similar to T3, such as 1:0.25, 1:0.5, and 1:1
• Default mode: Unlimited credit mode is set as the default
• Scaling options: If larger instances than T8i are needed, M8i Flex instances are recommended

Availability and Purchasing

T8i instances are currently available in major AWS regions, including the US, Asia Pacific (including Seoul), and Europe. They can be purchased as On-Demand and Spot instances, with Savings Plan options to be offered later. t8i.micro and t8i.small are available through the AWS Free Tier.