AWS Graviton2 processors are 64-bit Arm-based processors custom built by AWS to offer customers a better price to performance ratio for workloads like web and mobile backends, data, and media processing. Recently, AWS announced the general availability (GA) of AWS Lambda functions powered by AWS Graviton2 processors.
With the support for AWS Graviton 2 processors, various Lambda runtimes (NodeJS 12.x and 14.x, Python 3.8 and 3.9, Java 8 (java8.al2) and 11, .NET Core 3.1 and Ruby 2.7) built on top of Amazon Linux 2, including the custom runtime (provided.al2), now support two architectures:
- x86_64 – 64-bit x86 architecture for x86-based processors (default)
- arm64 - 64-bit ARM architecture for the AWS Graviton2 processor
With the support for AWS Graviton 2 processors, users can now configure existing x86-based Lambda functions to target the AWS Graviton2 processor or create new functions powered by AWS Graviton2 using the Console, API, AWS CloudFormation, and AWS CDK. Furthermore, AWS Lambda Layers will also support targeting x86-based or Arm-based functions using zip files or container images.
Running Lambda functions on Graviton 2 processors makes execution time less than on x86_64 architecture and lowers costs. In an AWS News blog post on AWS Lambda Functions Powered by AWS Graviton2 Processor, Danilo Poccia, chief evangelist (EMEA) at AWS, explains:
With Lambda, you are charged based on the number of requests for your functions and the duration (the time it takes for your code to execute) with millisecond granularity. For functions using the Arm/Graviton2 architecture, duration charges are 20 percent lower than the current pricing for x86. The same 20 percent reduction also applies to duration charges for functions using Provisioned Concurrency.
In addition, a respondent on a Hacker News thread on AWS launches ARM-powered Lambdas stated:
ARM is cheaper on AWS per the unit of work done, in the general case. But there should be no assumption that ARM is that snappy little brother that will launch your lambdas in no time while x86 is still starting up; this is the kind of idea that I get when reading the comments mentioning ARM. It won’t launch your virtualized environment that noticeably faster. It’ll just do more work for less money.
Currently, AWS Lambda functions powered by AWS Graviton2 processors are available in the Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), and US West (Oregon) regions. Pricing details are available on the pricing page.