x86-64 dedicated host profiles
A dedicated host profile is a combination of attributes, such as the number of vCPUs, amount of RAM, and optional instance storage that define the amount of compute capacity that is provided in a host that is provisioned exclusively for your use.
Dedicated hosts are available in various profile sizes to best suit the size and scale of your workloads: Balanced, Compute, Memory, Very High Memory, and Ultra High Memory. All virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host are provisioned from the same family and class of profiles. For example, if you choose a Memory profile for your dedicated host, all instances that are provisioned on the host must also be created with a Memory virtual server profile. If you choose a Compute with instance storage dedicated host, all instances that are provisioned on the host must also be created with Compute with instance storage virtual server profiles. This set up helps make sure that you can always use the entire dedicated host resource.
For more information about dedicated host profiles for IBM Z (s390x processor architecture), see s390x dedicated host profiles.
For x86-64 dedicated host profiles, only the Madrid region supports dedicated host profiles with instance storage.
The following profile families are available:
| Families | Description |
|---|---|
| Balanced | Best for midsize databases and common cloud applications with moderate traffic. Balanced profiles are offered with and without instance storage. |
| Compute | Best for workloads with intensive CPU demands, such as medium to high web traffic workloads, production batch processing, and front-end web servers. Compute profiles are offered with and without instance storage. |
| Memory | Best for memory intensive processes, such as memory caching, intensive database applications, or in-memory analytics workloads. Memory profiles are offered with and without instance storage. |
| Very High Memory with instance storage | Best for OLAP workloads and SAP-related services, such as SAP NetWeaver. The Very High Memory profile offers 1 vCPU to 14 GiB of RAM memory ratio. This profile is hosted exclusively on the Intel® Xeon® Platinum Cascade Lake server, and includes instance storage for temporary swap space or cache. |
| Ultra High Memory with instance storage | Best for in-memory OLTP databases, such as SAP. The Ultra High Memory profile offers the highest vCPU to memory ratios with 1 vCPU to 28 GiB of RAM. This profile is hosted exclusively on the Intel® Xeon® Platinum Cascade Lake server and includes instance storage for temporary swap space or cache |
Profiles with AMD-manufactured processors are available in the Toronto region.
Balanced
The Balanced profile provides a good mix of performance and scalability for more common workloads.
The Balanced with instance storage profile provisions your host with the capability for hosting instances that include instance storage. If you provision a dedicated host with a Balanced instance storage profile, any virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host must also be provisioned with a Balanced profile that includes instance storage. Profiles with instance storage include d in the profile name, for example bx2d or bx3d.
The Balanced profile family of dedicated hosts on Intel® x86-64 systems are deployed on one of the following processors:
- bx2 and bx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8260 Cascade Lake processor with 96 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- bx2 and bx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Gold 6248 Cascade Lake processor with 80 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- bx3d profiles are deployed on a custom Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8474C Sapphire Rapids processor with 96 cores in a 2-socket configuration.
New 3rd generation profiles are available in the Dallas, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, and Madrid regions to create dedicated hosts on hardware that uses 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Intel 8474C processor (previously code named Sapphire Rapids).
The following Balanced profiles are available for dedicated hosts.
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bx2-host-152x608 | 152 | 76 | 608 |
|
| bx2d-host-152x608 | 152 | 76 | 608 | 5700 GB |
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | GiB RAM |
|---|---|---|
| bx2a-host-228x912 | 228 | 912 |
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bx3d-host-176x880 | 176 | 88 | 880 | 2x3.2 Tb |
For supported instance profiles in the Balanced family, see balanced profiles. Instance profiles that are provisioned on a dedicated host in the Balanced family must include a bx prefix in the instance profile name. Profiles with instance storage include d in the profile name, for example bx2d or bx3d.
Dedicated hosts have a network performance cap of 80 Gbps. Instances provisioned on the host share bandwidth across the instances.
Compute
The Compute profile is best for workloads with intensive CPU demands, such as high web traffic workloads, production batch processing, and front-end web servers.
The Compute with instance storage profile provisions your host with the capability for hosting instances that include instance storage. If you provision a dedicated host with a Compute with instance storage profile, any virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host must also be provisioned with a Compute profile that includes instance storage.
The Compute profile family of dedicated hosts on Intel® x86-64 systems are deployed on one of the following processors:
- cx2 and cx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8260 Cascade Lake processor with 96 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- cx2 and cx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Gold 6248 Cascade Lake processor with 80 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- cx3d profiles are deployed on a custom Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8474C Sapphire Rapids processor with 96 cores in a 2-socket configuration.
New 3rd generation profiles are available in the Dallas, London, Toronto, and Madrid regions to create dedicated hosts on hardware that uses 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Intel 8474C processor (previously code named Sapphire Rapids).
The following Compute profiles are available for dedicated hosts.
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cx2-host-152x304 | 152 | 76 | 304 |
|
| cx2d-host-152x304 | 152 | 76 | 304 | 5700 GB |
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cx3d-host-176x880 | 176 | 88 | 440 | 2x3.2 Tb |
For supported instance profiles in the Compute family, see compute profiles. Instance profiles that are provisioned on a dedicated host in the Compute family must include a cx prefix in the instance profile name. Profiles with instance storage include d in the profile name, for example cx2d or cx3d.
Dedicated hosts have a network performance cap of 80 Gbps. Instances provisioned on the host share bandwidth across the instances.
Memory
The Memory profile is best for memory intensive workloads, such as large caching workloads, intensive database applications, or in-memory analytics workloads. The Memory with instance storage profile is best for memory intensive workloads, such as large caching workloads, intensive database applications, or in-memory analytics workloads.
The Memory with instance storage profile provisions your host with the capability for hosting instances that include instance storage. If you provision a dedicated host with a Memory with instance storage profile, any virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host must also be provisioned with a Memory profile that includes instance storage.
The Memory profile family of dedicated hosts on Intel® x86-64 systems are deployed on one of the following processors:
- mx2 and mx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8260 Cascade Lake processor with 96 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- mx2 and mx2d profiles can be deployed on an Intel® Xeon® Gold 6248 Cascade Lake processor with 80 cores in a 4-socket configuration.
- mx3d profiles are deployed on a custom Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8474C Sapphire Rapids processor with 96 cores in a 2-socket configuration.
New 3rd generation profiles are available in the Dallas, London, Toronto, and Madrid regions to create dedicated hosts on hardware that uses 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Intel 8474C processor (previously code named Sapphire Rapids).
The following Memory profiles are available for dedicated hosts.
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mx2-host-152x1216 | 152 | 76 | 1216 |
|
| mx2d-host-152x1216 | 152 | 76 | 1216 | 5700 GB |
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mx3d-host-176x1760 | 176 | 88 | 1760 | 2x3.2 Tb |
For supported instance profiles in the Memory family, see memory profiles. Instance profiles that are provisioned on a dedicated host in the Memory family must include an mx prefix in the instance profile name. Profiles with instance storage include d in the profile name, for example mx2d or mx3d.
Dedicated hosts have a network performance cap of 80 Gbps. Instances provisioned on the host share bandwidth across the instances.
Very High Memory with instance storage
The Very High Memory with instance storage profile with a high memory ratio of 14 GiB of memory to 1 vCPU of compute is best for OLAP workloads and SAP-related services such as SAP NetWeaver. The Very High Memory profile includes temporary SSD-backed Instance Storage at no additional charge.
- The vx2d profile hosted exclusively on the Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8260 Cascade Lake with 96 cores of compute that are running at a base speed of 2.4 GHz and an all-core turbo frequency of 3.1 GHz, a dedicated host that is provisioned with a Very High Memory profile delivers maximum speed and performance.
- The vx3d profile is hosted exclusively on the 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Intel 8474C processor (previously code named Sapphire Rapids).
If you provision a dedicated host with a Very High Memory profile, any virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host must also be provisioned with a Very High Memory profile. All Very High Memory profiles include instance storage that is designated by the d in the profile name, for example vx2d.
The 3rd generation profile with the vx3d prefix is a beta feature that is available for evaluation and testing purposes. This profile is available only in the Toronto (ca-tor) region to provision virtual server instances on 4th
Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, the Intel 8474C processor (previously code named Sapphire Rapids). For more information about the capabilities of the new profiles, see Next generation instance profiles.
The following Very High Memory profile is available for dedicated hosts.
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vx2d-host-176x2464 | 176 | 88 | 2464 | 5280 GB |
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vx3d-host-176x2816 | 176 | 88 | 2816 | 2x2860 GB |
For more information about instance profiles that include instance storage in the Very High Memory family, see very high memory profiles.
Dedicated hosts have a network performance cap of 80 Gbps. Instances provisioned on the host share bandwidth across the instances.
Ultra High Memory with instance storage
The Ultra High Memory with instance storage profile is best for in-memory OLTP databases, such as SAP. They are optimized for running memory-intensive applications and in-memory databases such as SAP HANA, Memcached, or Redis. This profile family offers our highest vCPU to memory ratio with 28 GiB of memory for every 1 vCPU of compute and up to 5.7 TiB of available RAM.
The Ultra High Memory profile is hosted exclusively on the latest generation Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8280L Cascade Lake server with 112 cores that are running a base speed of 2.7 GHz and an all-core turbo frequency of 4.0 GHz. The Ultra High Memory profile is provisioned with temporary SSD-backed Instance Storage at no additional charge.
If you provision a dedicated host with an Ultra High Memory profile, any virtual server instances that are provisioned on the dedicated host must also be provisioned with an Ultra High Memory profile. All Ultra High Memory profiles include instance storage that is designated by the d in the profile name, for example ux2d.
The following Ultra High Memory profile is available for dedicated hosts.
| Dedicated host profile | vCPU | Cores | GiB RAM | Instance storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ux2d-host-200x5600 | 200 | 100 | 5600 | 6000 GB |
For more information about instance profiles that include instance storage in the ultra high memory family, see ultra high memory profiles.
Dedicated hosts have a network performance cap of 80 Gbps. Instances provisioned on the host share bandwidth across the instances.
Viewing profile configurations
You can view available profile configurations by using the IBM Cloud console or the CLI. In the IBM Cloud console, you can select from popular profile configurations that support the most common use cases.
Understanding profiles
The following example describes the individual parts that make up a dedicated host profile name, for this example, bx2d-host-152x608. The prefix bx2d is composed of the family, architecture, generation, and specialty.
Together this information comprises the profile class.
| Family | Architecture | Generation | Specialty | Offering | vCPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | x | 2 | d- | host- | 152x | 608 |
The first character represents the profile family. Different profile families have different ratios of CPU to memory, which is designed for different workloads.
- "b": balanced family, 1:4 ratio
- "c": compute family (higher on the CPUs), 1:2 ratio
- "m": memory family (higher on the memory), 1:16 ratio
- "v": very high memory family (higher memory with instance storage), 1:14 ratio
- "u": ultra high memory family (higher memory with instance storage), 1:28 ratio
The second character represents the CPU architecture.
- "x": x86_64
- "z": System Z
The third character represents the generation of VPC the profile is for.
- The generation of the underlying hardware
The fourth character in the profile prefix, if it exists, represents a profile specialty.
- "d": indicates that this profile creates a dedicated host with the capability to host virtual server instances that include instance storage.
- "a": AMD manufactured
The field after the first hyphen "-" represents the offering, in this example, the dedicated host offering.
The field after the second hyphen "-" represents the number of vCPU and the size of RAM (GB). "152x608" means that this profile has 152 vCPU and a RAM of 608 GB.
For the “bx2d-host-152x608” profile, you can know from the name that it is a Balanced Instance Storage host profile with a 1:4 CPU to memory ratio (152 vCPU and 608 GB RAM). The CPU architecture is x86_64 and this profile is for second-generation hardware.
Using the IBM Cloud console
- In the IBM Cloud console, go to Navigation Menu icon
> Infrastructure 
> Compute > Dedicated hosts. - From the Dedicated host page, click Create.
- You can select from available profile configurations.
Using the CLI
To view the list of available profiles by using the CLI, run the following command:
ibmcloud is dedicated-host-profiles
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
All Intel®-based servers operate with the Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology enabled. Hyper-Threading Technology provies 2 vCPUs for every physical core in the box. Hyper-Threading Technology can also be disabled if needed. For more information, see Disabling Intel Hyper-Threading Technology.
Querying dedicated host capacity
For licensing purposes, you can retrieve the total physical capacity of the dedicated host that includes the compute that is held back for intensive resource usage. To see the total physical dedicated host compute, use the GET API
command to query the dedicated host. The GET command returns both available_memory and available_vcpu. A vCPU is 1/2 of a physical core. For more information, see Retrieve a dedicated host.
Next steps
After you choose a profile, it's time to create a dedicated host.