--- name: vpc-vsi-profile-details-general-purpose-gen2-x86 title: General purpose instance profiles - Gen 2 description: The general-purpose 2nd generation virtual server profiles (balanced, compute, and memory) are available to provision virtual servers on both Intel and AMD processor architectures. last-updated: 2026-06-30 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # General purpose instance profiles - Gen 2 {: #general-purpose-vsi-profiles-gen2-x86} The general-purpose 2nd generation virtual server profiles (balanced, compute, and memory) are available to provision virtual servers on both Intel and AMD processor architectures. {: shortdesc} ## Intel profiles {: #general-purpose-gen2-intel} The general-purpose 2nd generation virtual server profiles (balanced, compute, and memory) are built atop the 2nd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors. They provide a broad set of capabilities and scale from 2 vCPUs (1 physical core) up to 128 vCPUs (64 physical cores). The general-purpose profiles can also be paired with a corresponding dedicated host. This solution allows for single-tenant hypervisors that run workloads from a single IBM Cloud® account. ### Operating systems {: #general-purpose-os-gen2-intel} - Linux - Windows ### Processor generation {: #general-purpose-processor-gen2-intel} - Intel - 2nd Generation Xeon® Scalable processors - Intel® Xeon® Gold 6248 - Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8260 ### Availability {: #general-purpose-availability-gen2-intel} - Status: Generally available - Regions: All, except for Montreal, and Mumbai - Airtel ### Capabilities {: #general-purpose-capabilities-gen2-intel} - Core type: Dedicated - Dedicated host: Yes - Hyperthreading: Yes (SMT-2) - Secure boot: No - Confidential computing: No - Live migration: Yes - Instance storage: Select profiles - NIC Capabilities: - Max single NIC throughput: up to 25 Gbps - Bandwidth pooling: No - [Volume bandwidth allocation method](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-block-storage-bandwidth&format=markdown#attached-block-vol-bandwidth): `weighted` by default, `pooled` is not supported. ### VM Configuration {: #general-purpose-vm-config-gen2-intel} - Hardware type: i440fx - Cloud networking: virtio - Block boot volume: virtio - Exception: vscsi for most Windows-based instances. However, Windows instances that run on second-generation storage volumes use virtio. - Block data volumes: virtio - Instance storage: virtio ### Instance profiles {: #general-purpose-vsi-profiles-gen2-intel} #### Balanced {: #balanced-profiles-gen2-intel} | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth cap (Gbps) | Instance storage (Qty x GB) | | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | --------------------------- | | bx2-2x8 | 2 / 1 | 8 | 4 | | | bx2d-2x8 | 2 / 1 | 8 | 4 | 1x75 | | bx2-4x16 | 4 / 2 | 16 | 8 | | | bx2d-4x16 | 4 / 2 | 16 | 8 | 1x150 | | bx2-8x32 | 8 / 4 | 32 | 16 | | | bx2d-8x32 | 8 / 4 | 32 | 16 | 1x300 | | bx2-16x64 | 16 / 8 | 64 | 32 | | | bx2d-16x64 | 16 / 8 | 64 | 32 | 1x600 | | bx2-32x128 | 32 / 16 | 128 | 64 | | | bx2d-32x128 | 32 / 16 | 128 | 64 | 2x600 | | bx2-48x192 | 48 / 24 | 192 | 80 | | | bx2d-48x192 | 48 / 24 | 192 | 80 | 1x900 | | bx2-64x256 | 64 / 32 | 256 | 80 | | | bx2d-64x256 | 64 / 32 | 256 | 80 | 2x1200 | | bx2-96x384 | 96 / 48 | 384 | 80 | | | bx2d-96x384 | 96 / 48 | 384 | 80 | 2x1800 | | bx2-128x512 | 128 / 64 | 512 | 80 | | | bx2d-128x512 | 128 / 64 | 512 | 80 | 2x2400 | {: caption="Balanced instance profile options, Gen 2 Intel" caption-side="bottom"} #### Compute {: #compute-profiles-gen2-intel} | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth cap (Gbps) | Instance storage (Qty x GB) | | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | --------------------------- | | cx2-2x4 | 2 / 1 | 4 | 4 | | | cx2d-2x4 | 2 / 1 | 4 | 4 | 1x75 | | cx2-4x8 | 4 / 2 | 8 | 8 | | | cx2d-4x8 | 4 / 2 | 8 | 8 | 1x150 | | cx2-8x16 | 8 / 4 | 16 | 16 | | | cx2d-8x16 | 8 / 4 | 16 | 16 | 1x300 | | cx2-16x32 | 16 / 8 | 32 | 32 | | | cx2d-16x32 | 16 / 8 | 32 | 32 | 1x600 | | cx2-32x64 | 32 / 16 | 64 | 64 | | | cx2d-32x64 | 32 / 16 | 64 | 64 | 2x600 | | cx2-48x96 | 48 / 24 | 96 | 80 | | | cx2d-48x96 | 48 / 24 | 96 | 80 | 1x900 | | cx2-64x128 | 64 / 32 | 128 | 80 | | | cx2d-64x128 | 64 / 32 | 128 | 80 | 2x1200 | | cx2-96x192 | 96 / 48 | 192 | 80 | | | cx2d-96x192 | 96 / 48 | 192 | 80 | 2x1800 | | cx2-128x256 | 128 / 64 | 256 | 80 | | | cx2d-128x256 | 128 / 64 | 256 | 80 | 2x2400 | {: caption="Compute instance profile options, Gen 2 Intel" caption-side="bottom"} #### Memory {: #memory-profiles-gen2-intel} | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth cap (Gbps) | Instance storage (Qty x GB) | | ------------- | ------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | --------------------------- | | mx2-2x16 | 2 / 1 | 16 | 4 | | | mx2d-2x16 | 2 / 1 | 16 | 4 | 1x75 | | mx2-4x32 | 4 / 2 | 32 | 8 | | | mx2d-4x32 | 4 / 2 | 32 | 8 | 1x150 | | mx2-8x64 | 8 / 4 | 64 | 16 | | | mx2d-8x64 | 8 / 4 | 64 | 16 | 1x300 | | mx2-16x128 | 16 / 8 | 128 | 32 | | | mx2d-16x128 | 16 / 8 | 128 | 32 | 1x600 | | mx2-32x256 | 32 / 16 | 256 | 64 | | | mx2d-32x256 | 32 / 16 | 256 | 64 | 2x600 | | mx2-48x384 | 48 / 24 | 384 | 80 | | | mx2d-48x384 | 48 / 24 | 384 | 80 | 1x900 | | mx2-64x512 | 64 / 32 | 512 | 80 | | | mx2d-64x512 | 64 / 32 | 512 | 80 | 2x1200 | | mx2-96x768 | 96 / 48 | 768 | 80 | | | mx2d-96x768 | 96 / 48 | 768 | 80 | 2x1800 | | mx2-128x1024 | 128 / 64 | 1024 | 80 | | | mx2d-128x1024 | 128 / 64 | 1024 | 80 | 2x2400 | {: caption="Memory instance profile options, Gen 2 Intel" caption-side="bottom"} ### Limits {: #general-purpose-vsi-limits-gen2-intel} An instance has a limit for the number of volumes and virtual network interfaces that can be attached. This limit is based on the size of the instance. | Number of vCPUs | Max volumes | Max vNICs | | --------------- | ----------- | --------- | | 2-16 | 12 | 5 | | 17-48 | 12 | 10 | | 49+ | 12 | 15 | {: caption="General purpose profile family limits for vCPU, maximum volumes, and maximum network interfaces" caption-side="bottom"} ### Dedicated host profiles {: #general-purpose-dh-profiles-gen2-intel} Dedicated hosts allow users to provision a single-tenant host server and then provision virtual server instances of the corresponding family on the dedicated host. | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Instance storage | Sockets per host (NUMA) | Supported instance types | | ------------------ | ------------- | ------------ | ---------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------ | | bx2-host-152x608 | 152 / 76 | 608 | N/A | 4 | bx2 (all) | | bx2d-host-152x608 | 152 / 76 | 608 | 5700 GB | 4 | bx2d (all) | | cx2-host-152x304 | 152 / 76 | 608 | N/A | 4 | cx2 (all) | | cx2d-host-152x304 | 152 / 76 | 608 | 5700 GB | 4 | cx2d (all) | | mx2-host-152x1216 | 152 / 76 | 608 | N/A | 4 | mx2 (all) | | mx2d-host-152x1216 | 152 / 76 | 608 | 5700 GB | 4 | mx2d (all) | {: caption="General purpose dedicated host profile options, Gen 2 Intel" caption-side="bottom"} ## AMD profiles {: #general-purpose-gen2-amd} The general-purpose 2nd generation virtual server profiles are built atop the AMD’s 3rd generation EPYC processors. They provide a broad set of capabilities and scale from 2 vCPUs (1 physical core) up to 228 vCPUs (114 physical cores). The general-purpose profiles can also be paired with a corresponding dedicated host. This solution allows for single-tenant hypervisors that run workloads from a single IBM Cloud® account. ### Operating systems {: #general-purpose-os-gen2-amd} - Linux - Windows ### Processor generation {: #general-purpose-processor-gen2-amd} - AMD 7763 - 3rd Generation EPYC® processor ### Availability {: #general-purpose-availability-gen2-amd} - Status: Generally available - Regions: Toronto (`ca-tor`) ### Capabilities {: #general-purpose-capabilities-gen2-amd} - Core type: Dedicated - Dedicated host: Yes - Hyperthreading: Yes (SMT-2) - Secure boot: No - Confidential computing: No - Live migration: Yes - Instance storage: No - NIC capabilities: - Max single NIC throughput: up to 25 Gbps - Bandwidth pooling: No - [Volume bandwidth allocation method](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/vpc?topic=vpc-block-storage-bandwidth&format=markdown#attached-block-vol-bandwidth): `weighted` by default; `pooled` is not supported. ### VM configuration {: #general-purpose-vm-config-gen2-amd} - Hardware type: i440fx - Cloud networking: virtio - Block boot volume: virtio - Exception: vscsi for most Windows-based instances. However, Windows instances that run on second-generation storage volumes use virtio. - Block data volumes: virtio ### Instance profiles {: #general-purpose-vsi-profiles-gen2-amd} #### Balanced {: #balanced-profiles-gen2-amd} | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth cap (Gbps) | | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | bx2a-2x8 | 2 / 1 | 8 | 4 | | bx2a-4x16 | 4 / 2 | 16 | 8 | | bx2a-8x32 | 8 / 4 | 32 | 16 | | bx2a-16x64 | 16 / 8 | 64 | 32 | | bx2a-32x128 | 32 / 16 | 128 | 64 | | bx2a-48x192 | 48 / 24 | 192 | 80 | | bx2a-64x256 | 64 / 32 | 256 | 80 | | bx2a-96x384 | 96 / 48 | 384 | 80 | | bx2a-128x512 | 128 / 64 | 512 | 80 | | bx2a-228x912 | 228 / 114 | 912 | 80 | {: caption="Balanced instance profile options, Gen 2 AMD" caption-side="bottom"} ### Limits {: #general-purpose-vsi-limits-gen2-amd} An instance has a limit for the number of volumes and virtual network interfaces that can be attached. This limit is based on the size of the instance. | Number of vCPUs | Max volumes | Max vNICs | | --------------- | ----------- | --------- | | 2-16 | 12 | 5 | | 17-48 | 12 | 10 | | 49+ | 12 | 15 | {: caption="General purpose profile family limits for vCPU, maximum volumes, and maximum network interfaces" caption-side="bottom"} ### Dedicated host profiles {: #general-purpose-dh-profiles-gen2-amd} Dedicated hosts allow users to provision a single-tenant host server and then provision virtual server instances of the corresponding family on the dedicated host. | Profile | vCPUs / Cores | Memory (GiB) | Instance storage | Sockets per host (NUMA) | Supported instance types | | ------------------ | ------------- | ------------ | ---------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------ | | bx2a-host-228x912 | 228 / 114 | 912 | N/A | 2 | bx2a (all) | {: caption="General purpose dedicated host profile options, Gen 2 AMD" caption-side="bottom"}