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Profiles

Profiles

When you provision IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers, you can select from supported families of profiles. A profile is a combination of vCPU and RAM that can be instantiated quickly to start a virtual server instance. In the IBM Cloud console, you can choose from popular profile configurations or select from a list of profiles that best fit your needs.

Profile families

The following virtual server instance families are available.

Depending on your instance type, some families might not be available.

Table 1. Public virtual server family selections
Families Description
Balanced Best for common workloads that require a balance of performance and scalability. Uses network-attached storage.
Balanced local storage Best for large database workloads that require high I/O performance with low latency.
Variable compute Best for workloads that don’t require steady, high-CPU performance.
Compute Best for moderate to high web traffic workloads.
Memory Best for memory caching and real-time analytics workloads.
GPU Best for high-performance workloads.

Some of these families are also available for IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers for Virtual Private Cloud. For more information, see Virtual Servers for VPC.

Balanced

The balanced profiles (with network-attached storage) are ideal for common cloud workloads that require a balance of performance and scale. Network performance ranges from standard to premium.

The offering is available in the following profiles:

Table 2. Balanced profiles with network-attached storage
Profile vCPU RAM Storage type
B1.1x2 1 2 GB SAN
B1.1x4 1 4 GB SAN
B1.2x4 2 4 GB SAN
B1.2x8 2 8 GB SAN
B1.4x8 4 8 GB SAN
B1.4x16 4 16 GB SAN
B1.8x16 8 16 GB SAN
B1.8x32 8 32 GB SAN
B1.16x32 16 32 GB SAN
B1.16x64 16 64 GB SAN
B1.32x64 32 64 GB SAN
B1.32x128 32 128 GB SAN
B1.48x192 48 192 GB SAN

Storage notes

  • SAN primary boot disk (25 or 100 GB) with more disks available, up to 2 TB each (five total disks allowed).
  • Pricing for public virtual servers that use SAN storage includes virtual CPU, memory, and minimum primary boot disk. Extra disk prices depend on the disk size and quantity that you select.

All supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

Balanced local storage

The balanced local storage profiles are primarily for large database workloads that require high I/O performance with low latency. Network performance ranges from standard to premium.

Local HDD

Table 3. Balanced local storage profiles using local HDD
Profile vCPU RAM Secondary disks Storage type
BL1.1x2 1 2 GB 25, 100 GB Local HDD
BL1.1x4 1 4 GB 25, 100 GB Local HDD
BL1.2x4 2 4 GB 100, 200 GB Local HDD
BL1.2x8 2 8 GB 100, 200 GB Local HDD
BL1.4x8 4 8 GB 150, 300 GB Local HDD
BL1.4x16 4 16 GB 150, 300 GB Local HDD
BL1.8x16 8 16 GB 250 GB, (2 x 250 GB) Local HDD
BL1.8x32 8 32 GB 250 GB, (2 x 250 GB) Local HDD
BL1.16x32 16 32 GB 300 GB, (2 x 300 GB) Local HDD
BL1.16x64 16 64 GB 300 GB, (2 x 300 GB) Local HDD
BL1.32x64 32 64 GB 400 GB, (2 x 400 GB) Local HDD
BL1.32x128 32 128 GB 400 GB, (2 x 400 GB) Local HDD

Storage notes

  • Balanced local profiles automatically come with a 100 GB local storage boot disk. Then, you can select a second disk (options are shown in Table 3). Any additional local disks are optional. If you require over 500 GB, then two extra disks are required (for example, 8 cores require 2 x 250 GB of local storage).
  • Maximum local storage is limited by cores.
  • Balanced local storage is globally available; however, the type of storage (local SSD or local HDD) depends on the data center location.
  • You can't detach primary or secondary disks.

All supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

Local SSD

Table 7. Balanced local storage profiles using local SSD
Profile vCPU RAM Secondary disks Storage type
BL2.1x2 1 2 GB 25, 100 GB Local SSD
BL2.1x4 1 4 GB 25, 100 GB Local SSD
BL2.2x4 2 4 GB 100, 200 GB Local SSD
BL2.2x8 2 8 GB 100, 200 GB Local SSD
BL2.4x8 4 8 GB 150, 300 GB Local SSD
BL2.4x16 4 16 GB 150, 300 GB Local SSD
BL2.8x16 8 16 GB 250 GB, (2 x 250 GB) Local SSD
BL2.8x32 8 32 GB 250 GB, (2 x 250 GB) Local SSD
BL2.16x32 16 32 GB 300 GB, (2 x 300 GB) Local SSD
BL2.16x64 16 64 GB 300 GB, (2 x 300 GB) Local SSD
BL2.32x64 32 64 GB 400 GB, (2 x 400 GB) Local SSD
BL2.32x128 32 128 GB 400 GB, (2 x 400 GB) Local SSD

Storage notes

  • Balanced local profiles automatically come with a 100 GB local storage boot disk. Then, you can select a second disk (options are shown in Table 7). Any extra local disks are optional. If you require over 500 GB, then two extra disks are required (for example, 8 cores require 2 x 250 GB of local storage).
  • Maximum local storage is limited by cores.
  • Balanced local storage is globally available; however, the type of storage (local SSD or local HDD) depends on the data center location.
  • You can't detach primary or secondary disks.

All supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

Variable compute

Variable compute profiles are best for workloads that don’t require steady, high-CPU performance. Due to the level of CPU oversubscription that is allowed on the hosts for variable compute server instances, CPU performance levels might be less than other public profiles with the same number of cores, while RAM and storage remain consistent. These variable compute profiles are a lower-cost alternative. For example, you can use this function to test a new feature without incurring the higher cost of a full-performance virtual server instance.

The offering is available in the following profiles:

Table 11. Variable compute profiles
Profile vCPU RAM Storage Type
U1.1x2 1 2 GB SAN
U1.2x4 2 4 GB SAN
U1.4x8 4 8 GB SAN

Storage notes

  • SAN primary boot disk (25 or 100 GB) with an extra disk available, up to 2 TB. You can add one extra secondary disk to your variable compute instance.
  • Pricing for public virtual servers that use SAN storage includes virtual CPU, memory, and minimum primary boot disk. Extra disk prices depend on the disk size and quantity that you select.

Supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

Compute

Compute profiles are best for workloads with intensive CPU demands, such as high web traffic workloads, production batch processing, and front-end web servers.

The offering is available in the following profiles:

Table 12. Compute profiles
Profile vCPU RAM Storage Type
C1.1x1 1 1 GB SAN
C1.2x2 2 2 GB SAN
C1.4x4 4 4 GB SAN
C1.8x8 8 8 GB SAN
C1.16x16 16 16 GB SAN
C1.32x32 32 32 GB SAN

Storage notes

  • SAN primary boot disk (25 or 100 GB) with extra disks available, up to 2 TB each (five total disks allowed).
  • Pricing for public virtual servers that use SAN storage includes virtual CPU, memory, and minimum primary boot disk. Extra disk prices depend on the disk size and quantity that you select.

All supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

Memory

Memory profiles are best for memory intensive workloads, such as large caching workloads, intensive database applications, or in-memory analytics workloads.

The offering is available in the following profiles:

Table 13. Memory profiles
Profile vCPU RAM Storage Type
M1.1x8 1 8 GB SAN
M1.2x16 2 16 GB SAN
M1.4x32 4 32 GB SAN
M1.8x64 8 64 GB SAN
M1.16x128 16 128 GB SAN
M1.30x240 30 240 GB SAN
M1.48x384 48 384 GB SAN
M1.56x448 56 448 GB SAN
M1.64x512 64 512 GB SAN

Storage notes

  • SAN primary boot disk (25 or 100 GB) with extra disks available, up to 2 TB each (five total disks allowed).
  • Pricing for public virtual servers that use SAN storage includes virtual CPU, memory, and minimum primary boot disk. Extra disk prices depend on the disk size and quantity that you select.

All supported operating systems (such as RHEL, CentOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and others), databases that are supported, and software add-ons are also available with this offering.

GPU

GPU profiles are best for high-performance workloads that require more compute density to reduce resource management and costs. The GPU profiles are ideal for artificial intelligence processes, intense graphic and data applications, or developing new applications that require fast performance.

Powered by NVDIA Tesla GPUs, IBM Cloud Accelerated Compute “ac1” and "ac2" profiles both offer block and local SSD storage. The following GPU profiles are available globally for you to choose from:

Table 14. P100 GPU profiles
Profile GPU GPU RAM (GB) vCPU vCPU RAM (GB) Storage Type Boot Disk (GB) Secondary Disks (2 and 3) (GB)
ac1.8x60x25 1 P100 16 8 60 Block (SAN) 25 None
ac1.8x60x100 1 P100 16 8 60 Local SSD or SAN 100 None (SAN), 300 (Local)
ac1.16x120x25 2 P100 32 16 120 Block (SAN) 25 None
ac1.16x120x100 2 P100 32 16 120 Local SSD or SAN 100 None (SAN), 600 (Local)
Table 18. V100 GPU profiles
Profile GPU GPU RAM (GB) vCPU vCPU RAM (GB) Storage Type Boot Disk (GB) Secondary Disks (2 and 3) (GB)
ac2.8x60x25 1 V100 16 8 60 Block (SAN) 25 None
ac2.8x60x100 1 V100 16 8 60 Local SSD or SAN 100 None (SAN), 300 (Local)
ac2.16x120x25 2 V100 32 16 120 Block (SAN) 25 None
ac2.16x120x100 2 V100 32 16 120 Local SSD or SAN 100 None (SAN), 600 (Local)

GPU prerequisites

Review the following GPU prerequisites.

  1. GPU profile virtual servers are available only on an operating system that supports Hardware Virtual Machine (HVM) boot mode. See the following list for operating systems that support HVM boot mode.

    • Debian 8
    • Debian 9
    • RHEL 7
    • Ubuntu 16
    • Ubuntu 18
    • Windows 2012 R2
    • Windows 2016
    • Windows 2022
  2. Appropriate NVIDIA drivers and software must be installed. For more information about software and NVIDIA drivers, see Installing GPU drivers and software packages.

The software that you install might have prerequisite software and operating system-specific configurations.

Adding or removing GPUs

You can change the number of GPUs on your virtual server after your initial order. But, that depends on how many GPUs you provisioned. You have one of the following options.

  • If one GPU is provisioned, you can add another GPU
  • If two GPUs are provisioned, you can fall back to one GPU

NVIDIA GRID

IBM Cloud does not currently support GRID drivers for virtual GPUs. For GRID support, provision a GPU on a bare-metal server and install the appropriate GRID driver. See NVIDIA GPU support