Dedicated Instances

Dedicated instances are Amazon EC2 instances that run in a virtual private cloud (VPC) on hardware that's dedicated to a single customer. Your Dedicated instances are physically isolated at the host hardware level from instances that belong to other AWS accounts. Dedicated instances may share hardware with other instances from the same AWS account that are not Dedicated instances.

Note

A Dedicated Host is also a physical server that's dedicated for your use. With a Dedicated Host, you have visibility and control over how instances are placed on the server. For more information, see Dedicated Hosts.

Topics

Dedicated Instance Basics

Each instance that you launch into a VPC has a tenancy attribute. This attribute has the following values.

Value	Description
`default`	Your instance runs on shared hardware.
`dedicated`	Your instance runs on single-tenant hardware.
`host`	Your instance runs on a Dedicated Host, which is an isolated server with configurations that you can control.

You cannot change the tenancy of a default instance after you've launched it. You can change the tenancy of an instance from dedicated to host after you've launched it, and vice versa. For more information, see Changing the Tenancy of an Instance.

Each VPC has a related instance tenancy attribute. You can't change the instance tenancy of a VPC after you create it. This attribute has the following values.

Value	Description
`default`	An instance launched into the VPC runs on shared hardware by default, unless you explicitly specify a different tenancy during instance launch.
`dedicated`	An instance launched into the VPC is a Dedicated instance by default, unless you explicitly specify a tenancy of `host` during instance launch. You cannot specify a tenancy of `default` during instance launch.

To create Dedicated instances, you can do the following:

Create the VPC with the instance tenancy set to dedicated (all instances launched into this VPC are Dedicated instances).
Create the VPC with the instance tenancy set to default, and specify a tenancy of dedicated for any instances when you launch them.

Dedicated Instances Limitations

Some AWS services or their features won't work with a VPC with the instance tenancy set to dedicated. Check the service's documentation to confirm if there are any limitations.

Some instance types cannot be launched into a VPC with the instance tenancy set to dedicated. For more information about supported instances types, see Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances.

Amazon EBS with Dedicated Instances

When you launch an Amazon EBS-backed Dedicated instance, the EBS volume doesn't run on single-tenant hardware.

Reserved Instances with Dedicated Tenancy

To guarantee that sufficient capacity will be available to launch Dedicated instances, you can purchase Dedicated Reserved Instances. For more information, see Reserved Instances.

When you purchase a Dedicated Reserved Instance, you are purchasing the capacity to launch a Dedicated instance into a VPC at a much reduced usage fee; the price break in the hourly charge applies only if you launch an instance with dedicated tenancy. However, if you purchase a Reserved Instance with a default tenancy value, you won't get a Dedicated Reserved Instance if you launch an instance with dedicated instance tenancy.

In addition, you can't change the tenancy of a Reserved Instance after you've purchased it.

Auto Scaling of Dedicated Instances

For information about using Auto Scaling to launch Dedicated instances, see Auto Scaling in Amazon Virtual Private Cloud in the Auto Scaling User Guide.

Pricing for Dedicated Instances

Pricing for Dedicated instances is different to pricing for On-Demand instances. For more information, see the Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances product page.

Working with Dedicated Instances

You can create a VPC with an instance tenancy of dedicated to ensure that all instances launched into the VPC are Dedicated instances. Alternatively, you can specify the tenancy of the instance during launch.

Topics

Creating a VPC with an Instance Tenancy of Dedicated

When you create a VPC, you have the option of specifying its instance tenancy. You can create a VPC using the VPC wizard or the Your VPCs page in the Amazon VPC console.

To create a VPC with an instance tenancy of dedicated (VPC Wizard)

Open the Amazon VPC console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc/.
From the dashboard, choose Start VPC Wizard.
Select a VPC configuration, and then choose Select.
On the next page of the wizard, choose Dedicated from the Hardware tenancy list.
Choose Create VPC.

To create a VPC with an instance tenancy of dedicated (Create VPC dialog box)

Open the Amazon VPC console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc/.
In the navigation pane, choose Your VPCs, and then Create VPC.
For Tenancy, choose Dedicated. Specify the CIDR block, and choose Yes, Create.

If you launch an instance into a VPC that has an instance tenancy of dedicated, your instance is automatically a Dedicated instance, regardless of the tenancy of the instance.

Launching Dedicated Instances into a VPC

You can launch a Dedicated instance using the Amazon EC2 launch instance wizard.

To launch an instance with a tenancy of dedicated into a VPC with a tenancy of default

Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
Choose Launch Instance.
On the Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) page, select an AMI and choose Select.
On the Choose an Instance Type page, select the instance type and choose Next: Configure Instance Details.
Note
Ensure that you choose an instance type that's supported as a Dedicated instance. For more information, see Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances.
On the Configure Instance Details page, select a VPC and subnet. Choose Dedicated - Run a dedicated instance from the Tenancy list, and then Next: Add Storage.
Continue as prompted by the wizard. When you've finished reviewing your options on the Review Instance Launch page, choose Launch to choose a key pair and launch the Dedicated instance.

For more information about launching an instance with a tenancy of host, see Launching Instances onto Dedicated Hosts.

Displaying Tenancy Information

To display tenancy information for your VPC

Open the Amazon VPC console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/vpc/.
In the navigation pane, choose Your VPCs.
Check the instance tenancy of your VPC in the Tenancy column.
If the Tenancy column is not displayed, choose Edit Table Columns (the gear-shaped icon), Tenancy in the Show/Hide Columns dialog box, and then Close.

To display tenancy information for your instance

Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
In the navigation pane, choose Instances.
Check the tenancy of your instance in the Tenancy column.
If the Tenancy column is not displayed, do one of the following:
- Choose Edit Table Columns (the gear-shaped icon), Tenancy in the Show/Hide Columns dialog box, and then Close.
- Select the instance. The Description tab in the details pane displays information about the instance, including its tenancy.

Changing the Tenancy of an Instance

Depending on your instance type and platform, you can change the tenancy of a stopped Dedicated instance to host after launching it. The next time the instance starts, it's started on a Dedicated Host that's allocated to your account. For more information about allocating and working with Dedicated hosts, and the instance types that can be used with Dedicated hosts, see Using Dedicated Hosts. Similarly, you can change the tenancy of a stopped Dedicated Host instance to dedicated after launching it. The next time the instance starts, it's started on single-tenant hardware that we control.

To change the tenancy of an instance

Open the Amazon EC2 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/.
In the navigation pane, choose Instances, and then select your instance.
Choose Actions, then Instance State, and then choose Stop.
Choose Actions, then Instance Settings, and then choose Modify Instance Placement.
In the Tenancy list, choose whether to run your instance on dedicated hardware or on a Dedicated Host. Choose Save.