EC2 I8ge Instances Expand to London and Canada Central
Amazon's Graviton4-powered storage-optimized instances are now available in two additional AWS regions, broadening access to high-throughput NVMe storage workloads.
Where are EC2 I8ge instances available now?
Amazon EC2 I8ge instances have expanded to AWS Europe (London) and Canada (Central), adding to their existing regional footprint. The instances combine Graviton4 processors with third-generation AWS Nitro SSDs and are aimed at workloads requiring high-throughput, low-latency local storage access across large datasets.
What performance does I8ge deliver?
AWS positions I8ge as a significant step up from the previous Im4gn generation. The company claims up to 60% better compute performance compared to older Graviton2-based storage-optimized instances, and up to 55% better real-time storage performance per TB versus Im4gn.
Latency improvements are also notable. AWS reports up to 60% lower storage I/O latency and up to 75% lower storage I/O latency variability compared to Im4gn instances, which matters for applications sensitive to read/write consistency rather than just peak throughput.
Specifications at a glance
| Attribute | I8ge |
|---|---|
| Processor | AWS Graviton4 |
| Storage type | Local NVMe (third-gen Nitro SSD) |
| Max local NVMe storage | 120 TB |
| Max network bandwidth | 180 Gbps |
| Dedicated EBS bandwidth | 60 Gbps |
| Available sizes | 11 (including 2 bare-metal) |
| Compute vs. Graviton2 storage instances | Up to 60% better |
| Real-time storage perf/TB vs. Im4gn | Up to 55% better |
| Storage I/O latency vs. Im4gn | Up to 60% lower |
| Latency variability vs. Im4gn | Up to 75% lower |
Who should consider I8ge?
AWS describes the instance family as suited for workloads demanding fast local storage with high random read/write performance and consistent low latency when working with large datasets. The eleven available sizes, including two bare-metal options, allow teams to right-size deployments from smaller development workloads up to large-scale production environments.
The 180 Gbps network ceiling and 60 Gbps dedicated EBS bandwidth mean I8ge can also serve as a transfer hub for data-intensive pipelines, not just a local compute node.
Getting started
Instances can be launched through the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or any of the AWS SDKs. The expansion to London and Canada (Central) makes I8ge accessible to customers in those regions without requiring cross-region data movement, which can reduce both latency and egress costs for locally hosted applications.