Choose an AlloyDB machine type

To optimize performance and cost efficiency for your AlloyDB for PostgreSQL workload, you can select a machine series and shape tailored to your compute, memory, and caching requirements. Comparing the supported AlloyDB machine series, their target workload profiles, and regional availability helps you configure instances for workloads ranging from large datasets that require high-capacity caches to high-concurrency transactional applications.

Machine series overview

AlloyDB offers the following machine series, each built on a different underlying Google Cloud compute platform and optimized for specific performance characteristics.


Machine series
Core platform and CPU
Primary workload focus
Key performance differentiator

N2
3rd Generation Intel x86 processors (Ice Lake)
Legacy, general purpose
Available in all regions.

C4A
Google Axion ARM
Price performance, high throughput
Provides the best transaction throughput for cache-fitting workloads.

C4
6th generation Intel x86 processors (Granite Rapids) with Titanium SSD.
Low latency or very large database workloads
Provides the largest machine options with local SSDs for the fastest cache.

Z3
4th generation Intel x86 processors (Sapphire Rapids) with Titanium SSD
Large working dataset, storage intensive
Allows caching of more data per vCPU; optimized for storage-dense, I/O-intensive workloads

Machine series availability for AlloyDB clusters

You can choose one of the following machine series:

  • N2: this machine series provides a balanced price-to-performance ratio for a variety of AlloyDB workloads.
  • C4A Axion-based: this machine series provides optimized price-performance and delivers predictable high performance for high demand AlloyDB workloads.
  • C4: this machine series provides excellent performance, and the largest vertical scale in AlloyDB.

  • Z3: this machine series is optimized for storage-dense, I/O-intensive workloads.

N2

The following machine types are available for instances for the N2 machine series. For more information, see N2 machine series.


Machine type
vCPUs
Memory (GB)
n2-highmem-2
2
16 GB RAM
n2-highmem-4
4
32 GB RAM
n2-highmem-8
8
64 GB RAM
n2-highmem-16
16
128 GB RAM
n2-highmem-32
32
256 GB RAM
n2-highmem-64
64
512 GB RAM
n2-highmem-96
96
768 GB RAM
n2-highmem-128
128
864 GB RAM

C4A Axion-based

The following machine types are available for instances for the C4A Axion-based machine series. For more information, see C4A machine series.


Machine type
vCPUs
Memory (GB)
c4a-highmem-1
1
8 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-2-lssd
2
16 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-4-lssd
4
32 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-8-lssd
8
64 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-16-lssd
16
128 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-32-lssd
32
256 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-48-lssd
48
384 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-64-lssd
64
512 GB RAM
c4a-highmem-72-lssd
72
576 GB RAM

C4

The following machine types are available for instances for the C4 machine series. For more information, see C4 machine series.


Machine type
vCPUs
Memory (GB)
c4-highmem-4-lssd
4
32 GB RAM
c4-highmem-8-lssd
8
64 GB RAM
c4-highmem-16-lssd
16
128 GB RAM
c4-highmem-24-lssd
24
192 GB RAM
c4-highmem-32-lssd
32
256 GB RAM
c4-highmem-48-lssd
48
384 GB RAM
c4-highmem-96-lssd
96
768 GB RAM
c4-highmem-144-lssd
144
1152 GB RAM
c4-highmem-192-lssd
192
1536 GB RAM
c4-highmem-288-lssd
288
2304 GB RAM

Z3 standardlssd

The following machine types are available for instances for the Z3 machine series. For more information, see Z3 machine series.


Machine type
vCPUs
Memory (GB)
z3-highmem-14-standardlssd
14
112 GB RAM
z3-highmem-22-standardlssd
22
176 GB RAM
z3-highmem-44-standardlssd
44
352 GB RAM
z3-highmem-88-standardlssd
88
704 GB RAM

Z3 highlssd

The following machine types are available for instances for the Z3 highlssd machine series. For more information, see Z3 machine series.


Machine type
vCPUs
Memory (GB)
z3-highmem-8-highlssd
8
64 GB RAM
z3-highmem-16-highlssd
16
128 GB RAM
z3-highmem-22-highlssd
22
176 GB RAM
z3-highmem-32-highlssd
32
256 GB RAM
z3-highmem-44-highlssd
44
352 GB RAM

Regional availability methodology

AlloyDB helps you deploy and scale high-availability database solutions wherever you need them.

AlloyDB requires high availability (HA) to protect your mission-critical data. This means that to launch any machine series in a given Google Cloud region, the underlying Compute Engine platform supporting that machine series must be available in all three zones within that region. This requirement ensures that when you choose a region for your AlloyDB cluster, the necessary infrastructure is redundant and geographically distributed in that area, which provides the failover capabilities that you need.

Machine series regional deployments

Use the following table to learn where you can find AlloyDB platforms. N2 offers General Availability, and C4A Axion-based offers the widest modern coverage.


Region
Machine series
N2 C4A C4 Z3
africa-south1
✅
–
–
–
asia-east1
✅
✅
✅
–
asia-east2
✅
–
–
–
asia-northeast1
✅
–
✅
✅
asia-northeast2
✅
–
–
asia-northeast3
✅
–
✅
–
asia-south1
✅
–
–
–
asia-south2
✅
–
✅
–
asia-southeast1
✅
✅
✅
✅
asia-southeast2
✅
–
–
–
asia-southeast3
✅
–
–
–
australia-southeast1
✅
–
–
–
australia-southeast2
✅
–
–
–
europe-central2
✅
–
–
–
europe-southwest1
✅
–
–
–
europe-north1
✅
–
–
–
europe-north2
✅
–
–
–
europe-west1
✅
✅
✅
✅
europe-west2
✅
✅
✅
✅
europe-west3
✅
✅
–
✅
europe-west4
✅
✅
✅
✅
europe-west6
✅
–
–
–
europe-west8
✅
–
–
–
europe-west9
✅
–
–
–
europe-west10
✅
–
–
–
europe-west12
✅
–
–
–
me-central1
✅
–
–
–
me-central2
✅
–
–
–
me-west1
✅
–
–
–
northamerica-northeast1
✅
–
–
–
northamerica-northeast2
✅
–
✅
–
northamerica-south1
✅
–
✅
✅
southamerica-east1
✅
–
–
–
southamerica-west1
✅
–
–
–
us-central1
✅
✅
–
✅
us-east1
✅
✅
–
✅
us-east4
✅
✅
✅
✅
us-east5
✅
–
✅
✅
us-east7
✅
–
–
–
us-south1
✅
–
–
✅
us-west1
✅
–
✅
✅
us-west2
✅
–
–
–
us-west3
✅
–
✅
–
us-west4
✅
–
✅
–

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