The headline? Lower costs and increased transparency. Let’s dive into the details of these new instance types and how they can benefit your organization’s SQL Server deployments on AWS.
Amazon’s RDS for SQL Server now leverages M7i and R7i instances, offering a compelling value proposition. These new instance types boast up to 55% lower costs compared to their predecessors. That’s a substantial reduction, potentially freeing up budget for other critical areas of your business, such as investing in new technologies, hiring additional staff, or expanding marketing efforts. This cost reduction stems from improvements in processor technology and overall system architecture.
Specifically, the M7i instances are powered by custom 4th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Sapphire Rapids) and offer a balance of compute, memory, and networking resources, making them suitable for a wide range of database workloads. The R7i instances, on the other hand, are optimized for memory-intensive applications. They also utilize 4th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and offer the highest memory per vCPU of any RDS instance, making them ideal for workloads such as in-memory databases, large-scale data processing, and real-time analytics.
But the savings aren’t just about raw compute power. According to AWS, the new instances also bring improved transparency to database costs, with licensing fees and Amazon RDS DB instances costs billed separately. This provides a clearer picture of where your money is going and simplifies cost management.
The “unbundled pricing structure” is the key here. Traditionally, the cost of running SQL Server on RDS included the cost of the underlying compute instance and the SQL Server license. By separating licensing from instance costs, AWS is giving users more control over their spending. This allows for a more granular understanding of where your money is going and enables more effective cost optimization strategies. For example, if you already own SQL Server licenses through Microsoft’s Software Assurance program, you can leverage those licenses with the new instances and avoid paying for them through AWS. This is commonly referred to as “Bring Your Own License” (BYOL).
This unbundling is particularly beneficial for organizations with existing Microsoft licensing agreements. By leveraging their existing licenses, they can avoid double-paying for SQL Server and significantly reduce their overall RDS costs. The ability to track compute and licensing costs separately also makes it easier to allocate costs to different departments or projects, improving financial accountability.
Consider a scenario where a company is running a large SQL Server database on an older generation RDS instance. They are paying a bundled price that includes both the compute resources and the SQL Server license. By migrating to an M7i or R7i instance and leveraging their existing Microsoft Software Assurance benefits, they can significantly reduce their costs. The savings can then be reinvested into other areas of their business, such as developing new applications or improving their customer service.
Furthermore, the new instances often provide performance improvements over previous generations, allowing you to consolidate workloads and further reduce costs. For example, you might be able to run the same workload on a smaller M7i or R7i instance compared to an older generation instance, resulting in additional savings. Thoroughly testing your workload on the new instance types is crucial to understand the potential performance benefits.
