Instance families that support instance type changes

This topic describes the instance types and instance families that support instance type changes. Before you change the instance type of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, verify whether the instance type can be changed and identify the compatible instance types.

Impacts of instance type changes

The impacts of changing the instance type vary based on the network types of instances.

Instances that reside in the classic network:
- For retired instance types, when a non-I/O optimized instance is changed into an I/O optimized instance, instance information (including the private IP addresses, disk device names, and software authorization codes) is changed together with the instance. On Linux instances, basic disks (cloud) are identified as xvd* such as xvda and xvdb, and ultra disks (cloud_efficiency) and standard SSDs cloud_ssd) are identified as vd* such as vda and vdb.
- For available instance types, the private IP addresses of instances are changed.
Instances that reside in virtual private clouds (VPCs):
For retired instance types, when a non-I/O optimized instance is changed into an I/O optimized instance, instance information (including the disk device names and software authorization codes) is changed together with the instance. On Linux instances, basic disks (cloud) are identified as xvd* such as xvda and xvdb, and ultra disks (cloud_efficiency) and standard SSDs cloud_ssd) are identified as vd* such as vda and vdb.

Instance families that do not support instance type changes

Instance types in the following instance families do not support instance type changes:

Enterprise-level instance families based on the x86 architecture:
- Persistent memory-optimized instance families: re6p and re6p-redis
- Security-enhanced instance families: g7t, c7t, and r7t
- Big data instance families: d2c, d2s, d1, and d1ne
- Instance families with local SSDs: i1, i2, i2g, i2ne, i2gne, i3, and i3g
Enterprise-level heterogeneous instance families:
- GPU-accelerated compute-optimized instance family: gn5
- vGPU-accelerated instance family: vgn5i
- FPGA-accelerated compute-optimized instance families: f1 and f3
ECS Bare Metal Instance families:
- ebmgn7e, ebmgn7i, ebmgn7, ebmgn6ia, ebmgn6e, ebmgn6v, and ebmgn6i
- ebmg6, ebmg5s, ebmg5, ebmc6me, ebmc6, ebmc5s, ebmc4, ebmre6p, ebmr6, and ebmr5s
- ebmhfg6, ebmhfg5, ebmhfc6, and ebmhfr6
Super Computing Cluster (SCC) instance families:
- sccgn6e and sccgn6
- sccg5 and scch5
- scchfg6, scchfc6, and scchfr6

The following limits apply to instance families that support instance type changes:

Instance families: Instance types can be changed across instance families that are compatible with each other. For information about the compatibility between instance families, see the following tables.
Images: If the original instance uses an image that is not supported by the intended instance type or an image of an earlier version that is not supported by the existing architecture, you must re-initialize the system disk and replace the image, or install a driver. For more information, see Re-initialize a system disk.
- The original instance may use an image that is not supported by the intended instance type. Some instance families support only specific images. For more information, see Release notes for 2023.
- The original instance may use an image of an earlier version that is incompatible with the existing architecture.
Disk categories: If an instance uses a disk category that is not supported by the intended instance type, the instance cannot be changed to the instance type. Before you can change the instance to the intended instance type, you must change the disk category of the instance. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.

The following tables list the instance families that support instance type changes. The lists are applicable to both subscription instances and pay-as-you-go instances. For more information, see Overview of instance configuration changes.

Important

The availability of compatible instance types and instance families varies per region. You can view the available instance types and instance families in each region in the ECS console. You can also go to the ECS Instance Types Available for Each Region page to view available instance types in each region.

Table 1. Shared instance families
Original instance family	Compatible instance family
t6	t6 g6, c6, r6, hfg6, hfc6, and hfr6
t5	t5 and t6 hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, and ic5
n4, mn4, xn4, and e4	n4, mn4, xn4, and e4 sn1, sn2, se1, n1, n2, e3, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, c6, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, and t6

Table 2. Enterprise-level instance families
Original instance family	Compatible instance family or type
g8a, c8a, and r8a	g8a, c8a, and r8a g8ae, c8ae, and r8ae
g8y, c8y, and r8y	g8y, c8y, and r8y
g7se, c7se, and r7se	g7se, c7se, and r7se
g7a, c7a, and r7a	g7a, c7a, and r7a g7, c7, and r7
ebmg7a, ebmc7a, and ebmr7a	ebmg7a, ebmc7a, and ebmr7a
g7, c7, and r7	g7, c7, and r7
ebmg7, ebmc7, and ebmr7	ebmg7, ebmc7, and ebmr7
g7ne	g7ne g7, c7, and r7 hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 Note The hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before upgrade instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
g6r and c6r	g6r and c6r
g6, c6, and r6	g6, c6, and r6 g7, c7, and r7 g6e, c6e, and r6e re6, hfg6, hfc6, and hfr6 hfg7, hfc7, and hfr7 t6 Note The g6e, c6e, r6e, g7a, c7a, r7a, g7, c7, and r7 instance families support only enhanced SSDs (ESSDs). Before you upgrade g6, c6, or r6 instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
g6a, c6a, and r6a	g6a, c6a, and r6a g6, c6, and r6 g7, c7, and r7 g7a, c7a, and r7a Note The g7a, c7a, r7a, g7, c7, and r7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before you upgrade g6a, c6a, or r6a instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
g6t and c6t	g6t and c6t
g6e, c6e, and r6e	g6e, c6e, and r6e ebmg6e, ebmc6e, and ebmr6e g7, c7, and r7 hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 g7ne Note The hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before upgrade instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
ebmg6a, ebmc6a, and ebmr6a	ebmg6a, ebmc6a, and ebmr6a
ebmg6e, ebmc6e, and ebmr6e	ebmg6e, ebmc6e, and ebmr6e
g5, g5ne, r5, c5, and ic5	g5, g5ne, r5, c5, and ic5 g6e, c6e, and r6e g6, c6, r6, hfc6, hfg6, hfr6, and t6 Note Instances of the g5, r5, c5, and ic5 instance families can be upgraded to the g6e, c6e, r6e, g7, c7, and r7 instance families. The g6e, c6e, r6e, g7, c7, and r7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before you upgrade instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk. g7, c7, and r7 hfc5, hfg5, and t5
sn1ne, sn2ne, and se1ne	sn1ne, sn2ne, and se1ne hfc5, hfg5, g5, g5ne, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4 g6, c6, r6, hfc6, hfg6, hfr6, and t6
se1	se1 sn1, sn2, n1, n2, e3, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4
re6	re6 g6, c6, r6, hfc6, hfg6, hfr6, and re4
re4	re4 re6, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, e4, and ecs.se1.14xlarge
hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7	hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 g7, c7, and r7 g7ne Note The hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before upgrade instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
hfc6, hfg6, and hfr6	hfc6, hfg6, and hfr6 hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 g6, c6, r6, and re6 t6 Note The hfc7, hfg7, and hfr7 instance families support only ESSDs. Before upgrade instances to these instance families, make sure that all disks attached to the instances are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
hfc5 and hfg5	hfc5 and hfg5 g5, r5, c5, ic5, and t5 g6, c6, r6, hfc6, hfg6, hfr6, and t6
sgn7i-vws	sgn7i-vws
vgn7i-vws	vgn7i-vws
gn7i	gn7i
gn7	gn7
vgn6i	vgn6i
gn6i	gn6i
gn5i	gn5i
gn6e	gn6e
gn6v	gn6v
t1, s1, s2, s3, m1, m2, c1, and c2	sn1, sn2, n1, n2, e3, se1, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4
n1, n2, and e3	n1, n2, e3, sn1, sn2, se1, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4
sn1 and sn2	sn1, sn2, n1, n2, e3, se1, sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4
c4, ce4, and cm4	sn1ne, sn2ne, se1ne, hfc5, hfg5, g5, r5, c5, ic5, re4, t5, n4, mn4, xn4, and e4

Upgrade to instance families that support only ESSDs

To upgrade an instance from an instance family that supports multiple disk categories to an instance family that supports only ESSDs, perform the following operations:

Before you upgrade the instance, make sure that all disks attached to the instance are ESSDs. If the instances have disks aside from ESSDs, you can change the categories of the disks in the ECS console. For more information, see Change the category of a disk.
Note
For information about the pricing of ESSDs, visit the Pricing tab of the Elastic Computer Service product page.
Submit a ticket to upgrade the instance.
Important
After the instance is upgraded, you cannot downgrade the instance type of the instance.