This topic describes the features of universal instance families of Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and lists the instance types of each instance family.
Universal instances, also called U instances, provide a balance of computing, memory, and network resources, use different processors, and support multiple CPU-to-memory ratios. Universal instances are cost-effective, enterprise-level instances. They are developed based on the resource pooling technology and intelligent scheduling algorithm of Alibaba Cloud to allow dynamic resource management, provide consistent computing capacity, stability, and scalability, and guarantee the provision of resources. Universal instances are suitable for most scenarios.
u1, universal instance family
Features:
Compute:
Offers the following CPU-to-memory ratios: 1:2, 1:4, and 1:8.
Uses Intel® Xeon® Platinum Scalable processors.
Noteu1 instances are randomly deployed to different server platforms during instance creation and may be migrated across server platforms during the lifecycle of the instances. u1 instances use technological capabilities to promote cross-platform compatibility. However, business performance significantly varies between server platforms. If your business requires performance consistency, we recommend that you use g7, c7, or r7 instances.
Storage:
Is an instance family in which all instances are I/O optimized.
Supports enhanced SSDs (ESSDs), ESSD Entry disks, and ESSD AutoPL disks.
Network:
Supports IPv6.
Supports only virtual private clouds (VPCs).
Provides high network performance based on large computing capacity.
Supported scenarios:
Small and medium-sized enterprise-level applications
Websites and application servers
Data analytics and computing
Small and medium-sized database systems, caches, and search clusters
Instance types
Instance type | vCPUs | Memory size (GiB) | Network bandwidth (Gbit/s) | Packet forwarding rate (pps) | Connections | NIC queues | ENIs | Private IP addresses per ENI | Disk IOPS | Disk bandwidth (Gbit/s) |
ecs.u1-c1m1.large | 2 | 2 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.large | 2 | 4 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.large | 2 | 8 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.large | 2 | 16 | 1 | 300,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10,000 | 1 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.xlarge | 4 | 4 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.xlarge | 4 | 8 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.xlarge | 4 | 16 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.xlarge | 4 | 32 | 1.5 | 500,000 | Up to 250,000 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 20,000 | 1.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.2xlarge | 8 | 8 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.2xlarge | 8 | 16 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.2xlarge | 8 | 32 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.2xlarge | 8 | 64 | 2.5 | 800,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 25,000 | 2 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.3xlarge | 12 | 12 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.3xlarge | 12 | 24 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.3xlarge | 12 | 48 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.3xlarge | 12 | 96 | 4 | 900,000 | Up to 250,000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 30,000 | 2.5 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.4xlarge | 16 | 16 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.4xlarge | 16 | 32 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.4xlarge | 16 | 64 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.4xlarge | 16 | 128 | 5 | 1,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 40,000 | 3 |
ecs.u1-c1m1.8xlarge | 32 | 32 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m2.8xlarge | 32 | 64 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m4.8xlarge | 32 | 128 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 60,000 | 5 |
ecs.u1-c1m8.8xlarge | 32 | 256 | 10 | 2,000,000 | Up to 300,000 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 60,000 | 5 |
You can go to the ECS Instance Types Available for Each Region page to view the instance types available in each region.
For more information about these specifications, see the Instance type specifications section in the "Overview of instance families" topic.
Exceptions may occur when you deploy Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) applications on u1 instances. To resolve the issue, replace Userspace I/O (UIO) drivers with Virtual Function I/O (VFIO) drivers. For more information, see Replace UIO drivers with VFIO drivers.
For frequently asked questions about universal instances, see the sections that are related to u1 instances in Instance FAQ.