Why VM Shapes Matter: New Compute Plans Deliver Predictable Performance

Sarah Walter

Jan 09, 2026

Sarah Walter

Sarah Walter

Written by

Sarah Walter

Sarah Walter is a Product Manager at Akamai, leading cloud compute products with a focus on GPU and accelerated instances. With more than a decade of experience, she brings deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, video processing, and product lifecycle management. She is passionate about building at the intersection of people and technology, and she thrives on solving complex challenges and scaling innovative products that serve media, streaming, and enterprise workloads globally.

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Modern applications are more demanding than ever. AI inference, real-time personalization, analytics pipelines, and high-traffic APIs all depend on consistent, predictable compute, not just raw speed. And, for years, customers have been forced to choose between unpredictable oversubscribed instances or expensive, opaque hyperscaler pricing.

Akamai’s new compute plans, especially the G8 dedicated plan, change this dynamic by delivering high-consistency compute with purpose-built virtual machine (VM) shapes that give customers real control over performance.

Introducing G8 dedicated: Built for today’s most demanding workloads

The new G8 dedicated plan is powered by 5th Gen AMD EPYC™, delivering high-consistency compute with expanded memory options and two new VM shapes engineered for performance-sensitive workloads:

  • Compute Optimized (1:2) — More CPU per GB of RAM

  • General Purpose (1:4) — Balanced compute-to-memory for versatile workloads

These shapes are not cosmetic. They fundamentally change how customers architect for performance, capacity, and cost efficiency.

High-consistency compute without the hyperscaler trade-Offs

Most hyperscalers rely on varying levels of oversubscription. That’s why customers often see inconsistent performance, even when running the same workload on identical instance types. Noisy neighbors, fluctuating throughput, and surprise throttling are normal.

Akamai’s VM shapes flip that model:

  • No oversubscription: You get exactly the CPU you pay for.

  • No noisy neighbors: Compute remains stable and predictable.

  • No unexpected throttling: Performance stays consistent under load.

  • Clear, transparent pricing: No hidden multipliers or complex SKU matrices.

This is why the G8 dedicated plan excels in environments where consistency matters as much as speed.

Why VM shapes are a big deal for customers

With Akamai’s VM shapes, customers benefit from:

  • More compute power in a smaller footprint

  • Predictable, repeatable performance

  • Better throughput for CPU-intensive workloads

  • Easier capacity planning

More compute power in a smaller footprint

With 1:2 and 1:4 shapes, workloads run faster and more efficiently. Many customers can consolidate their fleet size by reducing infrastructure sprawl and operational overhead.

Predictable, repeatable performance

For enterprise systems and real-time applications, predictable performance is non-negotiable. These shapes ensure stable, low-latency compute that behaves the same way every time.

Better throughput for CPU-intensive workloads

High-frequency trading, video processing, large-scale APIs, distributed inference, and other heavy workloads thrive with more CPU headroom per VM.

Easier capacity planning

Customers no longer have to overprovision because of unpredictable performance. The consistency of the G8 plan enables sizing based on real workload profiles, not worst-case guessing.

Designed for enterprise workloads

The G8 plan is ideal for enterprise applications. This includes:

  • Latency-sensitive applications

  • High-traffic ecommerce systems

  • Real-time data ingestion or analytics

  • Resource-heavy enterprise applications

Anywhere performance must be consistent, the G8 shapes shine.

Why this matters now

The industry is shifting. With enterprises running more distributed systems, inconsistent compute is increasingly unacceptable. Businesses need predictable performance that scales, and they need pricing that they can understand.

Akamai’s new VM shapes meet that need by delivering high-consistency compute with flexible resource ratios, powered by 5th Gen AMD EPYC, and backed by a globally distributed cloud architecture.

Sarah Walter

Jan 09, 2026

Sarah Walter

Sarah Walter

Written by

Sarah Walter

Sarah Walter is a Product Manager at Akamai, leading cloud compute products with a focus on GPU and accelerated instances. With more than a decade of experience, she brings deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, video processing, and product lifecycle management. She is passionate about building at the intersection of people and technology, and she thrives on solving complex challenges and scaling innovative products that serve media, streaming, and enterprise workloads globally.

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