Universal instances, also called U instances, provide balanced computing, memory, and network resources. They support multiple processors and CPU-to-memory ratios. These instances use Alibaba Cloud's resource pooling technology and intelligent scheduling algorithms for dynamic resource management. This provides your applications with continuous computing power, stability, availability, and elasticity. Universal instances are cost-effective, enterprise-level instances that are suitable for most application scenarios.
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u2a, universal instance family
Introduction: u2a instances use Alibaba Cloud's new Cloud Infrastructure Processing Unit (CIPU) architecture. They are compatible with multiple generations of AMD EPYC™ processors and provide enterprise-level computing power.
Use cases:
Small and medium-sized databases, such as Redis and MySQL
Application servers
Middleware, such as MQ and Kafka
Websites or network access layers, such as Apache and Nginx
Other internal enterprise systems, such as development and testing environments and email systems
Compute:
Supports instance types with vCPU-to-memory ratios of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4.
Processor: AMD EPYC™ processor with a turbo frequency of up to 3.7 GHz.
For more information about operating system compatibility, see Compatibility between AMD instance types and operating systems.
Storage:
I/O optimized instances.
Supports the Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) protocol. For more information, see Overview of the NVMe protocol.
Supports ESSD Entry disks, enterprise SSDs (ESSDs), and ESSD AutoPL disks. For more information about disks, see Overview of Elastic Block Storage.
Small instance types support burstable disk IOPS and disk bandwidth. The storage I/O performance of an instance is determined by its compute specifications. A larger instance type provides better storage I/O performance. For more information, see Storage I/O performance.
Network:
Supports IPv4 and IPv6. For information about IPv6 communication, see IPv6 communication.
Supports Elastic RDMA Interface (ERI). For more information about how to use ERI, see Enable eRDMA on an enterprise-level instance.
Supports Jumbo Frames.
The network performance of an instance depends on its instance type. A larger instance type provides better network performance.
u2a instance types
Instance type | vCPUs | Memory (GiB) | Network baseline/burst bandwidth (Gbit/s) | Packet forwarding rate (PPS) | Connections | NIC queues | ENIs | Private IPv4 addresses per ENI | IPv6 addresses per ENI | Disk baseline IOPS | Disk baseline/burst bandwidth (Gbit/s) |
ecs.u2a-c1m1.large | 2 | 2 | 1.2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | Up to 110,000 | 1.2/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.large | 2 | 4 | 1.2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | Up to 110,000 | 1.2/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.large | 2 | 8 | 1.2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | Up to 110,000 | 1.2/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m1.xlarge | 4 | 4 | 2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 1,000,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Up to 110,000 | 1.6/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.xlarge | 4 | 8 | 2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 1,000,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Up to 110,000 | 1.6/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 1,000,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Up to 110,000 | 1.6/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.2xlarge | 8 | 16 | 3.2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 1,600,000 | Up to 250,000 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Up to 110,000 | 2/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 3.2/Up to 12.5 | Up to 1,600,000 | Up to 250,000 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Up to 110,000 | 2/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.4xlarge | 16 | 32 | 6/Up to 12.5 | Up to 2,000,000 | Up to 250,000 | 16 | 4 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 3/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 6/Up to 12.5 | Up to 2,000,000 | Up to 250,000 | 16 | 4 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 3/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.6xlarge | 24 | 48 | 7/Up to 12.5 | Up to 2,500,000 | Up to 360,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 3.5/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.6xlarge | 24 | 96 | 7/Up to 12.5 | Up to 2,500,000 | Up to 360,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 3.5/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.8xlarge | 32 | 64 | 8/Up to 25 | Up to 3,000,000 | 500,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 4/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 8/Up to 25 | Up to 3,000,000 | 500,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 4/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.12xlarge | 48 | 96 | 13/Up to 25 | 4,000,000 | 600,000 | 24 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 6.5/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.12xlarge | 48 | 192 | 13/Up to 25 | 4,000,000 | 600,000 | 24 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 6.5/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m2.16xlarge | 64 | 128 | 16/Up to 25 | 5,000,000 | 800,000 | 32 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 8/Up to 10 |
ecs.u2a-c1m4.16xlarge | 64 | 256 | 16/Up to 25 | 5,000,000 | 800,000 | 32 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Up to 110,000 | 8/Up to 10 |
u2i, universal instance family
Introduction: u2i instances use Alibaba Cloud's new CIPU architecture. They are compatible with servers from multiple generations and support the latest 5th and 6th generation Intel Xeon platforms.
Use cases:
Small and medium-sized enterprise applications
Websites and application servers
Data analytics and computing
Small and medium-sized database systems, caches, and search clusters
Compute:
CPU-to-memory ratios: 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, and 1:8.
Processor: Intel ® Xeon ® Platinum Scalable processor.
Storage:
I/O optimized instances.
Supports the NVMe protocol. For more information, see Overview of the NVMe protocol.
Supports ESSD Entry disks, ESSDs, and ESSD AutoPL disks. For more information about disks, see Overview of Elastic Block Storage.
Small instance types support burstable disk IOPS and disk bandwidth. The storage I/O performance of an instance depends on its computing specifications. A higher specification provides better storage I/O performance.
Network:
Supports IPv4 and IPv6. For information about IPv6 communication, see IPv6 communication.
The network performance of an instance depends on its computing specifications. A higher specification provides better network performance.
u2i instance types
Instance type | vCPUs | Memory (GiB) | Network baseline/burst bandwidth (Gbit/s) | Packet forwarding rate (PPS) | Connections | NIC queues | ENIs | Private IPv4 addresses per ENI | IPv6 addresses per ENI | Disk baseline/burst IOPS | Disk baseline/burst bandwidth (Gbit/s) |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.large | 2 | 2 | 2/Up to 15 | 900,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 20,000/Up to 200,000 | 1.5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.xlarge | 4 | 4 | 3/Up to 15 | 1,100,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 40,000/Up to 200,000 | 2/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.2xlarge | 8 | 8 | 5/Up to 15 | 1,300,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 50,000/Up to 200,000 | 3/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.3xlarge | 12 | 12 | 8/Up to 15 | 1,800,000 | Up to 300,000 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 60,000/Up to 200,000 | 4/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.4xlarge | 16 | 16 | 10/Up to 25 | 2,400,000 | Up to 350,000 | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 80,000/Up to 200,000 | 5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.6xlarge | 24 | 24 | 12/Up to 25 | 3,000,000 | Up to 400,000 | 12 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 100,000/Up to 200,000 | 6/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m1.8xlarge | 32 | 32 | 16/Up to 32 | 4,000,000 | Up to 600,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 160,000/Up to 300,000 | 8/12 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.large | 2 | 4 | 2/Up to 15 | 900,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 20,000/Up to 200,000 | 1.5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.xlarge | 4 | 8 | 3/Up to 15 | 1,100,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 40,000/Up to 200,000 | 2/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.2xlarge | 8 | 16 | 5/Up to 15 | 1,300,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 50,000/Up to 200,000 | 3/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.3xlarge | 12 | 24 | 8/Up to 15 | 1,800,000 | Up to 300,000 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 60,000/Up to 200,000 | 4/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.4xlarge | 16 | 32 | 10/Up to 25 | 2,400,000 | Up to 350,000 | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 80,000/Up to 200,000 | 5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.6xlarge | 24 | 48 | 12/Up to 25 | 3,000,000 | Up to 400,000 | 12 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 100,000/Up to 200,000 | 6/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m2.8xlarge | 32 | 64 | 16/Up to 32 | 4,000,000 | Up to 600,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 160,000/Up to 300,000 | 8/12 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.large | 2 | 8 | 2/Up to 15 | 900,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 20,000/Up to 200,000 | 1.5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 3/Up to 15 | 1,100,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 40,000/Up to 200,000 | 2/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 5/Up to 15 | 1,300,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 50,000/Up to 200,000 | 3/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.3xlarge | 12 | 48 | 8/Up to 15 | 1,800,000 | Up to 300,000 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 60,000/Up to 200,000 | 4/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 10/Up to 25 | 2,400,000 | Up to 350,000 | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 80,000/Up to 200,000 | 5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.6xlarge | 24 | 96 | 12/Up to 25 | 3,000,000 | Up to 400,000 | 12 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 100,000/Up to 200,000 | 6/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m4.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 16/Up to 32 | 4,000,000 | Up to 600,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 160,000/Up to 300,000 | 8/12 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.large | 2 | 16 | 2/Up to 15 | 900,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 20,000/Up to 200,000 | 1.5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.xlarge | 4 | 32 | 3/Up to 15 | 1,100,000 | Up to 300,000 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 40,000/Up to 200,000 | 2/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.2xlarge | 8 | 64 | 5/Up to 15 | 1,300,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 50,000/Up to 200,000 | 3/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.3xlarge | 12 | 96 | 8/Up to 15 | 1,800,000 | Up to 300,000 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 60,000/Up to 200,000 | 4/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 10/Up to 25 | 2,400,000 | Up to 350,000 | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 80,000/Up to 200,000 | 5/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.6xlarge | 24 | 192 | 12/Up to 25 | 3,000,000 | Up to 400,000 | 12 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 100,000/Up to 200,000 | 6/10 |
ecs.u2i-c1m8.8xlarge | 32 | 256 | 16/Up to 32 | 4,000,000 | Up to 600,000 | 16 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 160,000/Up to 300,000 | 8/12 |
u1, universal instance family
Use cases:
Small and medium-sized enterprise applications
Websites and application servers
Data analytics and computing
Small and medium-sized database systems, caches, and search clusters
Compute:
CPU-to-memory ratios: 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, and 1:8.
Processor: Intel ® Xeon ® Platinum Scalable processor
NoteInstances of this family are randomly deployed on different server platforms when they are created and may be migrated to different server platforms during their lifecycle. u1 instances use technical means to improve compatibility between different platforms. However, performance may vary significantly between platforms. If you require consistent performance, we recommend that you use g7, c7, or r7 instances.
Storage:
I/O optimized instances.
Supports ESSD Entry disks, ESSDs, and ESSD AutoPL disks.
Network:
Supports IPv4 and IPv6. For information about IPv6 communication, see IPv6 communication.
The network performance of an instance depends on its computing specifications. A higher specification provides better network performance.
u1 instance types
Instance type | vCPUs | Memory (GiB) | Network baseline bandwidth (Gbit/s) | Packet forwarding rate (PPS) | Connections | NIC queues | ENIs | Private IPv4 addresses per ENI | IPv6 addresses per ENI | Disk baseline IOPS | Disk baseline bandwidth (Gbit/s) |
ecs.u1-c1m1.large | 2 | 2 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.large | 2 | 4 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.large | 2 | 8 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.large | 2 | 16 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.xlarge | 4 | 4 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.xlarge | 4 | 8 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.xlarge | 4 | 32 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.2xlarge | 8 | 8 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.2xlarge | 8 | 16 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.2xlarge | 8 | 64 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.3xlarge | 12 | 12 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.3xlarge | 12 | 24 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.3xlarge | 12 | 48 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.3xlarge | 12 | 96 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.4xlarge | 16 | 16 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.4xlarge | 16 | 32 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.8xlarge | 32 | 32 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.8xlarge | 32 | 64 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.8xlarge | 32 | 256 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 60,000 | 5 |
Exceptions may occur when you deploy Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) applications on u1 instances. To resolve this issue, use Virtual Function I/O (VFIO) drivers to replace Userspace I/O (UIO) drivers. For more information, see Use VFIO drivers to replace UIO drivers.
For frequently asked questions about Universal instances, see U1 instance FAQ.