When you create a large number of elastic container instances, the resources that you can use may be insufficient. In this case, we recommend that you specify multiple specifications. The system tries to create the instances based on the sequence of the specified specifications. This improves the creation success rate.
Background information
If you specify multiple specifications when you create an elastic container instance, the system tries to use the specifications in sequence. This improves the creation success rate.
Note During the retry, the instance remains in the Pending state.
The multi-specification mode is effective at the instance level and only affects the creation policy of a single instance.
You can also specify multiple zones when you use the multi-specification mode. This further improves the creation success rate.
Supported specifications
vCPU and memory specifications supported by Elastic Container Instance
Specifications supported in all regions where Elastic Container Instance is available
vCPU | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth (bidirectional, Gbit/s, theoretical upper limit) |
0.25 | 0.5 and 1 | 0.08 |
0.5 | 1 and 2 | 0.08 |
1 | 2, 4, and 8 | 0.1 |
2 | 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 | 1 |
4 | 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 | 1.5 |
8 | 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 | 2 |
12 | 12, 24, 48, and 96 | 2.5 |
16 | 16, 32, 64, and 128 | 3 |
24 | 24, 48, 96, and 192 | 4.5 |
32 | 32, 64, 128, and 256 | 6 |
52 | 96, 192, and 384 | 12.5 |
64 | 128, 256, and 512 | 20 |
Specifications supported only in some regions
Important The specifications contained in the following table are supported only in some regions. When you create an elastic container instance that has one of the following specifications, make sure that the corresponding specifications are supported in the specified region and zone. Otherwise, the instance cannot be created because no resources exist in the region and zone.
The regions that support the specifications contained in the following table include: China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Hohhot), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), China (Guangzhou), China (Chengdu), and Singapore.
You cannot use the specifications in the following table to create preemptible instances.
vCPU | Memory (GiB) | Bandwidth (bidirectional, Gbit/s, theoretical upper limit) |
2 | 6, 10, 12, and 14 | 1 |
4 | 6, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 | 1.5 |
6 | 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, and 48 | 1.5 |
8 | 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, and 62 | 2.5 |
ECS instance families supported by Elastic Container Instance
Enterprise-level x86 computing instance families
x86-based instance types are built on the x86 architecture. Each vCPU corresponds to a hyper-thread of a processor core. They deliver stable performance and are suitable for various types and sizes of enterprise applications, database systems, video encoding and decoding, and data analytics.
Category | Enterprise-level x86 instance family |
General-purpose | g9ae, g9a, g9i, g8a, g8i, g7a, g7, g6e, g6a, g6, g5, sn2ne |
Compute-optimized | c9ae, c9a, c9i, c8a, c8i, c7a, c7, c6e, c6a, c6, c5, sn1ne |
Memory-optimized | r9ae, r9a, r9i, r8a, r8i, r7a, r7, r6e, r6a, r6, r5, se1ne, se1 |
General-purpose computing | u2a, u2i, u1 |
Compute-intensive | ic5 |
High clock speed | hfg8i, hfg7, hfg6, hfg5 hfc8i, hfc7, hfc6, hfc5 hfr8i, hfr7
|
Big data | d1, d1ne |
Local SSD | i2, i2g |
Memory-enhanced | re6 |
Enterprise-level heterogeneous computing instance families
GPU-accelerated instance types are suitable for scenarios such as deep learning and image editing. You can run Docker images for GPUs directly on ECI GPU-accelerated instances. A NVIDIA graphics card driver is pre-installed in each instance. The supported driver and CUDA versions vary by GPU instance type.
Note The gn8ia and gn8is instance families in the following table are available only in some regions outside China. To use these instance families, contact Alibaba Cloud sales.
Category | GPU instance family | Driver and CUDA versions |
vGPU-accelerated instance family | sgn7i-vws | GRID 470, CUDA 11.4 (default) |
vgn7i-vws |
vgn6i-vws |
GPU-accelerated compute-optimized instance family | gn7e | |
gn7i |
gn7s |
gn7 |
gn6v |
gn6e |
gn6i |
gn5i |
gn5 |
gn8ia | |
gn8is |
Important Starting March 17, 2025, specify only the major version number for GPU drivers, such as 535, instead of the full version number, such as 535.161.08. The created instance will use a driver with the specified major version, but the minor version may be updated. When an older driver is unpublished, a newer version is automatically used to create the instance. The support period for a driver version aligns with NVIDIA's official support. For more information, see NVIDIA Driver Documentation.
GPU driver update history
Update time | Update description |
March 2025 | The GRID 470 driver is updated to 470.239.06. The Tesla 470 driver is updated to 470.256.02, the Tesla 535 driver is updated to 535.230.02, and the Tesla 550 driver is updated to 550.127.08. The Tesla 525 driver is no longer supported. If you specify this driver, the system falls back to version 535.
|
Enterprise-level Arm computing instance families
Arm-based instance types are built on the Arm architecture. Each vCPU corresponds to a physical processor core. They deliver stable performance and provide exclusive resources. They are suitable for scenarios such as containers, microservices, websites and application servers, high-performance computing (HPC), and CPU-based machine learning.
Category | Arm instance family |
General-purpose | g8y |
Compute-optimized | c8y |
Memory-optimized | r8y |
Shared x86 computing instance families
Shared instance types are designed for small and medium-sized websites or individual developers. Compared with enterprise-level instance types, shared instance types use shared resources. This means the computing performance of an instance cannot be guaranteed, but the cost is lower.
Category | Shared x86 instance family |
Economy | e |
For more information about ECS instance types, see the following topics:
Configuration description
Note You can specify multiple specifications only in the API mode.
When you call the CreateContainerGroup API operation to create an elastic container instance, you can use the InstanceType parameter to specify multiple specifications.
When you specify multiple specifications, you can specify vCPU and memory specifications or ECS instance types. You can also specify both of them.
You must specify specifications in a priority order. A maximum of five specifications can be specified.
If you want to create GPU-accelerated elastic container instances, elastic container instances that use local disks, or Arm-based elastic container instances, you can only specify corresponding specifications. The specifications that do not support the preceding features cannot be specified. For more information, see Specify ECS instance types to create an elastic container instance.
The following table describes the InstanceType parameter. For more information, see CreateContainerGroup.
Parameter | Type | Example | Description |
InstanceType | String | 2-4Gi,ecs.c6.xlarge,ecs.g6.xlarge | The specifications for the instance. You can specify a maximum of five specifications at a time. Separate multiple specifications with commas (,). |