Managing instance classes - Amazon DocumentDB
Determining an instance classChanging an instance's classSupported instance classes by regionInstance class specifications
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Managing instance classes

The instance class determines the computation and memory capacity of an Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility) instance. The instance class you need depends on your processing power and memory requirements.

Amazon DocumentDB supports the R4, R5, R6G, T3, and T4G families of instance classes. These classes are current-generation instance classes that are optimized for memory-intensive applications. For the specifications on these classes, see Instance class specifications.

Determining an instance class

To determine the class of an instance, you can use the Amazon Web Services Management Console or the describe-db-instances Amazon CLI operation.

Using the Amazon Web Services Management Console

To determine the instance class for your cluster's instances, complete the following steps in the console.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console, and open the Amazon DocumentDB console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/docdb.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Clusters to find the instance that you're interested in.

    Tip

    If you don't see the navigation pane on the left side of your screen, choose the menu icon (Hamburger menu icon with three horizontal lines.) in the upper-left corner of the page.

  3. In the Clusters navigation box, you’ll see the column Cluster Identifier. Your instances are listed under clusters, similar to the screenshot below.

    DocumentDB clusters list showing two clusters with their identifiers and roles.

  4. In the list of instances, expand the cluster to find the instances you are interested in. Find the instance that you want. Then, look at the Size column of the instance's row to see its instance class.

    In the following image, the instance class for instance robo3t is db.r5.4xlarge.

    Screen shot showing a list of instances with their instance types.
Using the Amazon CLI

To determine the class of an instance using the Amazon CLI, use the describe-db-instances operation with the following parameters.

  • --db-instance-identifier — Optional. Specifies the instance that you want to find the instance class for. If this parameter is omitted, describe-db-instances returns a description for up to 100 of your instances.

  • --query — Optional. Specifies the members of the instance to include in the results. If this parameter is omitted, all instance members are returned.

The following example finds the instance name and class for the instance sample-instance-1.

For Linux, macOS, or Unix:

aws docdb describe-db-instances \
    --query 'DBInstances[*].[DBInstanceIdentifier,DBInstanceClass]' \
    --db-instance-identifier sample-instance-1

For Windows:

aws docdb describe-db-instances ^
    --query 'DBInstances[*].[DBInstanceIdentifier,DBInstanceClass]' ^
    --db-instance-identifier sample-instance-1

Output from this operation looks something like the following.

[
    [
        "sample-instance-1",
        "db.r5.large"
    ]

The following example finds the instance name and class for up to 100 Amazon DocumentDB instances.

For Linux, macOS, or Unix:

aws docdb describe-db-instances \
    --query 'DBInstances[*].[DBInstanceIdentifier,DBInstanceClass]' \
    --filter Name=engine,Values=docdb

For Windows:

aws docdb describe-db-instances ^
    --query 'DBInstances[*].[DBInstanceIdentifier,DBInstanceClass]' ^
    --filter Name=engine,Values=docdb

Output from this operation looks something like the following.

[
    [
        "sample-instance-1",
        "db.r5.large"
    ],
    [
        "sample-instance-2",
        "db.r5.large"
    ],
    [
        "sample-instance-3",
        "db.r5.4xlarge"
    ],
    [
        "sample-instance-4",
        "db.r5.4xlarge"
    ]
]

For more information, see Describing Amazon DocumentDB instances.

Changing an instance's class

You can change the instance class of your instance using the Amazon Web Services Management Console or the Amazon CLI. For more information, see Modifying an Amazon DocumentDB instance.

Supported instance classes by region

Amazon DocumentDB supports the following instance classes:

  • R6G—Latest generation of memory-optimized instances powered by Arm-based Amazon Graviton2 processors that provide up to 30% better performance over R5 instances at 5% less cost.

  • R6GD—Memory-optimized R6G instances with local non-volatile memory express (NVMe)-based Solid-State Drive (SSD) storage for ephemeral data.

  • R5—Memory-optimized instances that provide up to 100% better performance over R4 instances for the same instance cost.

  • R4—Previous generation of memory-optimized instances.

  • T4G—Latest-generation low cost burstable general-purpose instance type powered by Arm-based Amazon Graviton2 processors that provides a baseline level of CPU performance, delivering up to 35% better price performance over T3 instances and ideal for running applications with moderate CPU usage that experience temporary spikes in usage.

  • T3—Low cost burstable general-purpose instance type that provides a baseline level of CPU performance with the ability to burst CPU usage at any time for as long as required.

For detailed specifications on the instance classes, see Instance class specifications.

A particular instance class may or may not be supported in a given Region. The following table specifies which instance classes are supported by Amazon DocumentDB in each Region.

Supported instance classes by Region
Instance Classes
Region R6GD R6G R5 R4 T4G T3

US East (Ohio)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

US East (N. Virginia)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

US West (Oregon)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Africa (Cape Town)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

South America (São Paulo)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Hong Kong)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Hyderabad)

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Mumbai)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Seoul)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Sydney)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Singapore)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Canada (Central)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (Frankfurt)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (Ireland)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (London)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (Milan)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (Paris)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Europe (Spain)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Middle East (UAE)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

China (Beijing)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

China (Ningxia)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported
Amazon GovCloud (US-West)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported
Amazon GovCloud (US-East)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Instance class specifications

The following table provides details of the Amazon DocumentDB instance classes. You can find explanations for each table column below the table.

Supported Amazon DocumentDB instance classes
Instance class vCPU1 Memory (GiB)2 NVMe SSD tiered cache (GiB)3 Max. temp. storage (GiB)4 Baseline / burst bandwidth (Gbps)5 Supporting Engines6
R6G – Current Generation Memory-Optimized Instance Class based on Graviton2
db.r6g.large 2 16 - 32 0.75 / 10 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.xlarge 4 32 - 63 1.25 / 10 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.2xlarge 8 64 - 126 2.5 / 10 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.4xlarge 16 128 - 252 5.0 / 10 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.8xlarge 32 256 - 504 12 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.12xlarge 48 384 - 756 20 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
db.r6g.16xlarge 64 512 - 1008 25 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
R6GD – Current Generation NVMe-backed Instance Class based on Graviton2
db.r6gd.xlarge 4 32 173 64 1.25 / 10 5.0.0 only
db.r6gd.2xlarge 8 64 346 128 2.5 / 10 5.0.0 only
db.r6gd.4xlarge 16 128 694 256 5.0 / 10 5.0.0 only
db.r6gd.8xlarge 32 256 1388 512 12 5.0.0 only
db.r6gd.12xlarge 48 384 2082 768 20 5.0.0 only
db.r6gd.16xlarge 64 512 2776 1024 25 5.0.0 only
R5 – Previous Generation Memory-Optimized Instance Class
db.r5.large 2 16 - 31 0.75 / 10 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.xlarge 4 32 - 62 1.25 / 10 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.2xlarge 8 64 - 124 2.5 / 10 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.4xlarge 16 128 - 249 5.0 / 10 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.8xlarge 32 256 - 504 10 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.12xlarge 48 384 - 748 12 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.16xlarge 64 512 - 1008 20 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
db.r5.24xlarge 96 768 - 1500 25 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0
R4 – Previous Generation Memory-Optimized Instance Class
db.r4.large 2 15.25 - 30 0.75 / 10 3.6.0 only
db.r4.xlarge 4 30.5 - 60 1.25 / 10 3.6.0 only
db.r4.2xlarge 8 61 - 120 2.5 / 10 3.6.0 only
db.r4.4xlarge 16 122 - 240 5.0 /10 3.6.0 only
db.r4.8xlarge 32 244 - 480 10 3.6.0 only
db.r4.16xlarge 64 488 - 960 25 3.6.0 only
T4G – Latest Generation Burstable Performance Instance Classes based on Graviton2
db.t4g.medium 2 4 - 8.13 0.256 / 5 4.0.0 and 5.0.0
T3 – Previous Generation Burstable Performance Instance Classes
db.t3.medium 2 4 - 7.5 0.256 / 5 3.6.0, 4.0.0, and 5.0.0

  1. vCPU — The number of virtual central processing units (CPUs). A virtual CPU is a unit of capacity that you can use to compare instance classes. Instead of purchasing or leasing a particular processor to use for several months or years, you are renting capacity by the hour. Our goal is to provide a consistent amount of CPU capacity no matter what the actual underlying hardware.

  2. Memory (GiB) — The RAM, in gigabytes, that is allocated to the instance. There is often a consistent ratio between memory and vCPU.

  3. NVMe SSD tiered cache — The space on the SSD volume, measured in gigabytes, allocated as extended cache for storing ephemeral data. This cache is only available in NVMe-backed instances.

  4. Max. temp. storage (GiB) — The space, measured in gigabytes, allocated to the instance for non-persistent temporary file storage. For NVMe-backed instances, this storage is hosted on an NVMe-based SSD volume. In all other instances, it is hosted on Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS).

  5. Baseline / burst bandwidth (Gbps) — Burst bandwidth represents the maximum bandwidth in gigabits per second. Divide by 8 to get the expected throughput in gigabytes per second. Instances of size 4xlarge and smaller have a baseline bandwidth. To meet additional demand, they can use a network I/O credit mechanism to burst beyond their baseline bandwidth. Instances can use burst bandwidth for a limited time, typically from 5 to 60 minutes, depending on the instance size.

  6. Supporting Engines — The Amazon DocumentDB engines that support the instance class.