Enhanced networking uses single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) to provide high-performance networking capabilities on supported instance types. SR-IOV is a method of device virtualization that provides higher I/O performance and lower CPU utilization when compared to traditional virtualized network interfaces. Enhanced networking provides higher bandwidth, higher packet per second (PPS) performance, and consistently lower latency between instances. There is no additional charge for using enhanced networking.
For information about the supported network speed for each instance type, see Amazon EC2 Instance Types
You can enable enhanced networking using one of the following mechanisms:
- Elastic Network Adapter (ENA)
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The Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) supports network speeds of up to 100 Gbps for supported instance types.
All Nitro-based instances use ENA for enhanced networking. In addition, the following Xen-based instances use ENA: H1, I3, G3,
m4.16xlarge, P2, P3, P3dn, and R4.For more information, see Enable enhanced networking with ENA on your EC2 instances.
- Intel 82599 Virtual Function (VF) interface
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The Intel 82599 Virtual Function interface supports network speeds of up to 10 Gbps for supported instance types.
The following instance types use the Intel 82599 VF interface for enhanced networking: C3, C4, D2, I2, M4 (excluding m4.16xlarge), and R3.
For more information, see Enhanced networking with the Intel 82599 VF interface.
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