9
9
Booking tickets for a concert, building a high-performance game engine, or running AI video generators that go viral worldwide—people and businesses rely heavily on cloud computing to power these experiences. To ensure these services run smoothly, cloud resources must be scalable, cost-effective, and lightning-fast. While an optimal architecture is important, the processors have a massive role in their performance and cost efficiency.
In its early days, AWS used x86 processors from Intel and AMD to power EC2 instances. These processors were reliable but not always optimized for the increasingly diverse and demanding workloads customers needed. Recognizing this, AWS set out to build a processor tailored specifically for the cloud leveraging the Arm-based technology.
Arm processors, built on Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) architecture, are known for their efficiency, scalability, and energy-saving capabilities. These processors deliver excellent performance at a fraction of the energy cost by stripping out unnecessary instructions and focusing on what truly matters. AWS leveraged this architecture to design and launch the AWS Graviton processor series.
This blog will explore AWS Graviton's evolution, its benefits, and the scenarios where it truly shines. We’ll also highlight potential challenges in adoption and how CloudKeeper ensures a smooth migration journey.
What is AWS Graviton?
AWS Graviton is a family of server processors designed by AWS to improve the efficiency and performance of its cloud services. First launched in 2018 and built on Arm architecture, these processors are tailored to AWS’s specific needs. Initially, AWS Graviton instance types included EC2 resources for workloads like web servers, caching, and containerized applications.
Over the years, AWS released Graviton2, Graviton3, and most recently, Graviton4 in 2023. These processors now power a wide range of AWS services beyond EC2, including databases like Amazon Aurora and RDS, analytics services like OpenSearch and EMR, and container orchestration platforms such as EKS and Fargate.
What are the benefits of AWS Graviton?
AWS introduced Graviton to offer customers more value from their cloud infrastructure, by ensuring a broader range of cost-effective, high-performance instance types across AWS services. Cloud users tend to gain multiple benefits from leveraging these processors, which include:
Cloud Cost Savings
Graviton processors are budget-friendly without compromising power. Since AWS Graviton architecture is based on the Arm framework, they have a System-on-chip (SoC) design, making them more compact, efficient, and cost-effective. They’re known for delivering up to 40% better price performance than x86-based instances, helping businesses cut cloud expenses while scaling their operations efficiently.
Enhanced Performance
These chips handle diverse workloads like app servers, web hosting, and HPC with ease, offering better memory bandwidth and compute capabilities compared to their predecessors.
Improved Security
Keeping your data safe is a priority, and Graviton delivers. Features like always-on memory encryption and dedicated vCPU caches make these processors a secure option for critical workloads.
Extensive Software Support
AWS Graviton supports a wide range of Linux distributions and open-source tools, as well as many popular operating systems, ISVs, and AWS Partners. This makes it perfect for developers who thrive on flexibility and community collaboration.
General Purpose Processors
AWS Graviton servers could be used to improve and optimize server performance, mid-size data-storing processes, microservices, and cluster computing.
Burstable Workloads
AWS Graviton processors efficiently handle scalable tasks like microservices, virtual desktops, small and medium database services, and business-critical applications. They excel in managing sudden spikes in resource demands.
Compute-Intensive Support
Ideal for workloads requiring significant computational power, including HD video encoding, gaming, and CPU-based machine-learning processes.
Superior Networking
Support for C6gn instances offers up to 100 Gbps network bandwidth through the Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA), ensuring low-latency and high-throughput networking for demanding applications.
Reduced Dependency on Third-party Manufacturers
Unlike processors from third parties like Intel or AMD, Graviton is designed by AWS specifically for the cloud. This in-house development allows for tight integration with AWS services, enhancing both efficiency and functionality.
Sustainable Computing
The AWS Graviton processors and their architecture are built for sustainability. They use up to 60% less energy than traditional processors, slashing carbon footprint and reducing energy bills. It also aligns with AWS’s vision for a greener future.
Availability with Managed AWS Services
AWS Graviton instance types also include a wide range of AWS-managed services, including Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, and Amazon EKS. This broad compatibility allows users to adopt Graviton processors across diverse workloads.
AWS Graviton Versions Comparison
AWS Graviton architecture has evolved significantly since its debut. Each generation offers better performance, scalability, and efficiency than its predecessor, supporting diverse workloads across AWS services. Here’s a quick comparison of Graviton versions and their key features:
After the launch of Graviton3, AWS also introduced the Graviton3E, a high-performance variant of the Graviton3 chip. With a 35% better performance for tasks reliant on vector instructions, Graviton3E instances also consume up to 60% less energy for the same work than comparable Amazon EC2 instances, which makes it a more sustainable approach to high-performance computing.
Graviton4 stands out as the AWS Graviton family's latest and most advanced server processor, delivering exceptional performance, lower cost, and greater energy efficiency. Additionally, it introduces robust security features, including always-on memory encryption, dedicated vCPU caches, and pointer authentication, ensuring top-tier data protection.
Which AWS Services support Graviton Processors?
When AWS Graviton was first introduced, it was designed to deliver cost-effective performance for a limited set of workloads. However, with the release of successive generations like Graviton2, Graviton3, and Graviton4, Graviton processors now support a wide range of AWS services, optimizing performance, cost-efficiency, and energy usage across diverse applications.
Here’s a look at some key AWS services powered by Graviton:
- Amazon EC2 - Provides scalable virtual servers for running applications in the cloud. Supports a wide range of applications from small-scale web apps to large enterprise workloads.
- Amazon Aurora - A high-performance relational database service compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL.
- Amazon RDS - Simplifies relational database setup, operation, and scaling in the cloud.
- Amazon MemoryDB for Redis- A durable, in-memory Redis-compatible database designed for ultra-low latency workloads.
- Amazon ElastiCache - Improves database performance by caching frequently accessed data.
- Amazon OpenSearch - Provides search and analytics services for large datasets.
- Amazon EMR - Processes large datasets using tools like Apache Spark and Hadoop.
- AWS Fargate - A serverless compute engine for running containers without the effort of managing infrastructure.
- Amazon EKS - Manages and orchestrates Kubernetes clusters for containerized applications.
- AWS Lambda - Runs serverless code in response to events, scaling automatically based on demand.
Amazon EC2 instance types powered by Graviton Processors
Within EC2, various instance types are powered by different generations of AWS Graviton processors, including Graviton 2, Graviton 3, Graviton 3E, and Graviton 4. Each generation offers unique performance and efficiency benefits, catering to different workload requirements.
AWS Graviton processors are widely used across Amazon EC2 instances for a wide variety of cloud use cases, including application servers, microservices, open-source databases, and high-performance computing. AWS Graviton instance types cost up to 20% less than comparable x86-based EC2 instances, and they are designed to use up to 60% less energy, making them an eco-friendly and cost-effective option for many workloads.
What are the use cases of AWS Graviton?
AWS Graviton processors are optimized for specific types of workloads and deliver exceptional cost-performance benefits, but they aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Let’s explore where they excel and where alternative solutions might be more appropriate.
Microservices
Applications built on microservices that require balanced computing, memory, and networking resources benefit greatly. For instance, streaming platforms with scalable subscriber bases are a perfect fit.
Graphics Acceleration and Compute-Intensive Applications
Tasks like video encoding, gaming servers, or computational modeling thrive with AWS Graviton. These processors ensure high performance for latency-sensitive workloads while optimizing costs.
Memory-Intensive Workloads
Databases like MySQL, NoSQL, and Redis that require large-scale memory operations see improved performance. For example, supply chain management applications processing extensive datasets find Graviton highly efficient.
Accelerated Computing
Ideal for advanced fields like robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning inference engines, AWS Graviton architecture and hardware acceleration are perfect for processing complex logic in real-time scenarios.
Storage-Optimized Applications
Use cases involving high-frequency read/write operations, such as search engines and streaming services, benefit from Graviton’s ability to handle large data volumes while keeping costs low.
Web Servers and App Hosting
AWS Graviton provides cost-efficient and scalable solutions for web hosting and application servers, particularly those relying on Java, Node.js, and PHP.
Distributed Computing
Frameworks like Apache Spark and Hadoop see significant performance and cost savings when using Graviton for large-scale data processing tasks.
(Learn how MobiKwik, India’s leading FinTech player, achieved seamless migration to AWS Graviton and saved 27% of their cloud costs with CloudKeeper - Read the full story.)
Limitations with Graviton
While AWS Graviton delivers exceptional results for many cloud-native and Linux-based workloads, they lack support for some specialized x86 instruction sets and libraries. Hence, they may not be suitable for the following applications.
- Machine Learning Training: Workloads relying on NVIDIA CUDA or requiring extensive GPU acceleration may not benefit from Graviton processors.
- Specialized Engineering Simulations: Tasks with high-precision floating-point computations are better suited to other architectures.
- Windows-Only Applications: Since Graviton does not support the x86-specific instruction sets, workloads tied to Windows environments may face compatibility challenges.
Key considerations before migrating to AWS Graviton
Having explored the benefits, use cases, and limitations of AWS Graviton processors, the next step is understanding how to transition effectively if you decide Graviton is right for your workloads. Migration to Graviton can be straightforward, but planning and preparation are key to ensuring success.
- Start by assessing your workloads to determine migration suitability. Workloads with Linux-based open-source applications are often the easiest to transition.
- Conduct comprehensive validation tests to ensure performance, functionality, and compatibility meet your expectations.
- Verify whether your existing monitoring and security tools support Arm architecture to avoid surprises post-migration.
- Assess if the performance and cost benefits justify migration for each workload, particularly for legacy or highly specialized applications.
- Leverage AWS automation tools, such as AWS Systems Manager, to streamline deployment and configuration processes.
Transitioning to AWS Graviton can unlock significant cloud cost savings and performance advantages. With a systematic approach, you can ensure a smooth AWS Graviton migration and reap the benefits of this powerful platform.
Achieve seamless transition to AWS Graviton with CloudKeeper
AWS Graviton processors offer superior performance and cost efficiency. However, migrating workloads to Graviton requires expertise and meticulous planning. CloudKeeper offers comprehensive AWS Graviton Migration Services, without compromising business continuity.
Here’s how CloudKeeper simplifies your migration journey:
Assessment & Workshops: Gain clarity on Graviton’s potential with tailored workload evaluations and hands-on workshops. We help identify migration opportunities while optimizing for performance gains.
Migration Roadmap: We create a detailed migration plan, offering end-to-end support to ensure timely execution while adhering to your budget.
Continuity Planning: Our team develops robust disaster recovery and failover strategies, minimizing risks during and after migration.
Migration & Upgrades: CloudKeeper manages the technical intricacies of transitioning and upgrading workloads to Graviton, minimizing downtime and disruptions.
Cost & Performance Optimization: Post-migration, we fine-tune configurations and deliver continuous optimization to maximize the price-to-performance ratio.
Continued Support: From monitoring and troubleshooting to moving applications to run natively on the AWS Graviton architecture, we provide end-to-end support for your entire migration strategy.
With 15+ years of cloud expertise and having worked with 400+ businesses globally, CloudKeeper is a trusted partner for all your cloud migration and modernization needs.
Explore our full suite of AWS Graviton migration services.
Conclusion
AWS Graviton is a game-changer in the world of cloud computing, offering impressive cloud cost savings, enhanced performance, and energy efficiency. These processors offer superior price performance in use cases like general-purpose workloads, compute-intensive tasks, and memory-heavy applications, making them a versatile choice for many businesses.
However, Graviton isn’t the perfect fit for every scenario. Understanding where AWS Graviton architecture excels—and where it doesn’t—is key to deciding whether it aligns with your needs.
That’s why having a trusted partner, like CloudKeeper, can make all the difference. From assessing workloads to managing migrations and ensuring optimal performance, CloudKeeper’s expertise ensures a smooth and stress-free shift to AWS Graviton instance types. Working with the right partner can help you unlock its full potential while minimizing risks and maximizing rewards.
