AWS continues to strengthen its cloud computing capabilities with significant advancements in its compute infrastructure. The recent introduction of M8g instances marks a substantial step forward in processing power and efficiency for cloud workloads. These new instances, powered by AWS Graviton4 processors, represent more than just an incremental update – they bring substantial performance gains that make them particularly suitable for demanding computational tasks.
The M8g instances build upon AWS’s previous generation of processors, offering up to 30% better performance compared to their Graviton3-based predecessors. This advancement addresses a growing need in the market for more powerful computing resources, especially for workloads such as application servers, microservices, gaming servers, midsize data stores, and caching fleets.
What sets these instances apart is their expanded capacity. The new M8g lineup includes instances with up to three times more vCPUs and memory than the previous generation M7g instances. This expansion in computing resources comes alongside impressive performance metrics: databases run up to 40% faster, web applications see a 30% speed increase, and large Java applications experience up to 45% better performance compared to Graviton3 processors.
The M8g instances represent a significant advancement in AWS’s compute infrastructure, built on the foundation of the AWS Nitro System. This architecture moves CPU virtualization, storage, and networking functions to dedicated hardware and software, creating a more streamlined and secure computing environment.
The instance family spans a comprehensive range of computing needs with twelve distinct sizes. At the entry level, the m8g.medium provides 1 vCPU and 4 GiB of memory, suitable for smaller workloads. At the upper end, the m8g.48xlarge delivers substantial computing power with 192 vCPUs and 768 GiB of memory. For organizations requiring direct hardware access, AWS offers two bare metal options: the m8g.metal-24xl and m8g.metal-48xl, providing the same computing resources as their virtualized counterparts.
Network performance scales with instance size, ranging from up to 12.5 Gbps in smaller instances to 50 Gbps in the largest configurations. Similarly, Amazon EBS bandwidth increases from 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps as you move up the instance size ladder. All instances in the family are EBS-only, focusing on consistent storage performance through the attached volume service.
Real-world implementations demonstrate the practical impact of these specifications. Companies like Arctic Wolf have documented significant improvements in their security operations platform, achieving better performance and sustainability benefits. IBM’s Instana Observability platform reported a reduction in CPU utilization by up to 30% while improving platform responsiveness and query times.
The adoption of M8g instances across different industries provides insights into their practical benefits. Leading organizations have reported substantial improvements in both performance and cost efficiency when migrating their workloads to these new instances.
Arctic Wolf, specializing in security operations, integrated M8g instances into their cloud-native platform. Their previous experience with Graviton3-based M7g instances had already yielded 20% performance improvements and 17% better price-performance compared to x86-based instances. The move to M8g instances promised to further enhance these gains.
IBM’s experience with Graviton technology through their Instana Observability platform demonstrates the scalability benefits. Their platform, which processes petabytes of data with one-second granularity metrics, saw up to 35% reduction in CPU utilization and 18% lower costs when using previous Graviton3-based instances. Their initial tests with Graviton4 showed an additional 30% reduction in CPU utilization while improving platform responsiveness.
Zendesk’s migration story adds another perspective. After moving their Kubernetes-based platform to Graviton3-based M7g instances in February 2023, they achieved a 15% performance boost at a reduced cost. The larger instance sizes of M8g instances, offering up to 192 vCPUs, provide new opportunities for their Kubernetes control plane to optimize performance-critical services.
Quora’s experience spans multiple service types, from Python webservers to data processing engines. Their migration to Graviton technology resulted in 30% improvement in price performance across various systems, including asynchronous task workers, Spark and Trino data processing engines, and caching servers using Memcached and Redis.
The M8g instances signal a clear direction in AWS’s infrastructure development, particularly through their expanded capabilities and improved resource efficiency. The progression from Graviton3 to Graviton4 processors, with up to 30% performance improvements and triple the vCPU and memory capacity, points to increasing support for more demanding workloads.
Organizations can take advantage of these advancements through AWS’s Graviton Fast Start program, which enables migration of workloads to Graviton-based instances in as little as four hours for many applications. This program supports a wide range of workloads, from serverless and containerized applications to databases and caching systems.
The practical impact extends across multiple AWS services. Amazon RDS users can move popular open-source databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB to Graviton-based instances with minimal effort. Amazon Aurora users can transition their MySQL and PostgreSQL databases to these instances without code changes. For organizations using Amazon ElastiCache, both Redis and Memcached workloads can move seamlessly to Graviton-based instances.
Companies interested in adopting M8g instances can access them through the AWS Management Console, with support from tools like the Porting Advisor for Graviton to assist in the migration process. The instances are currently available in multiple AWS regions, including Europe (London) and Europe (Spain), providing flexibility in deployment options.
The M8g instances mark a significant step in computing infrastructure, demonstrated through measurable improvements in both performance and efficiency. The customer experiences of Arctic Wolf, IBM, Zendesk, and Quora show that these benefits translate into practical advantages across different types of workloads and industries. While some organizations achieved 15-20% performance improvements with previous Graviton generations, others documented 30-35% reductions in CPU utilization alongside cost savings.
The expanded instance sizes, reaching up to 192 vCPUs and 768 GiB of memory, combined with enhanced networking capabilities of up to 50 Gbps, provide organizations with new options for scaling their applications. The AWS Nitro System’s architecture, with its dedicated hardware for CPU virtualization, storage, and networking functions, ensures these resources deliver consistent performance for demanding workloads.
Through the Graviton Fast Start program and supporting tools like the Porting Advisor, AWS has made these capabilities accessible to organizations running various workloads, from application servers and microservices to databases and caching systems. As shown by the documented customer migrations, organizations can implement these improvements while maintaining their existing applications and services.