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feat(ins): add use cases #4980

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feat(ins): add use cases
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Update pages/instances/reference-content/choosing-instance-type.mdx
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85 changes: 76 additions & 9 deletions pages/instances/reference-content/choosing-instance-type.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ dates:
tags: instance, type, stardust, range, vcpu, hyperthread, core, ram, bandwidth, dedicated, shared, memory, hypervisor, vm, storage, dev1, play2, gp1, pro2, ent1, gpu, arm, learning, development, production, production-optimized, cost-optimized, memory-optimized, storage-optimized
---

Scaleway Instances are virtual machines in the cloud. You can create and manage Instances via our [console](https://console.scaleway.com/), [API](https://www.scaleway.com/en/developers/api/), [CLI](https://www.scaleway.com/en/cli/), or [other developer tools](https://www.scaleway.com/en/developers/). When you [create an Instance](/instances/how-to/create-an-instance/), you must select the **Instance type** you want to create. This page explains the different ranges of Instances available at Scaleway and helps you to choose the best one for your needs.
Scaleway **CPU Instances** are virtual machines in the cloud. You can create and manage Instances via our [console](https://console.scaleway.com/), [API](https://www.scaleway.com/en/developers/api/), [CLI](https://www.scaleway.com/en/cli/), or [other developer tools](https://www.scaleway.com/en/developers/). When you [create an Instance](/instances/how-to/create-an-instance/), you must select the **Instance type** you want to create. This page explains the different ranges of Instances available at Scaleway and helps you to choose the best one for your needs.

## Different Instances for different use cases

Expand All @@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ Instances are virtual machines: multiple Instances can run on one "real" physica

* **vCPU**: A **v**irtual **C**entralized **P**rocessing **U**nit represents a part of the underlying physical CPU that is assigned to a particular Instance.

vCPU may be **shared** or **dedicated**.
Each vCPU may be [shared or dedicated](/docs/instances/reference-content/choosing-shared-vs-dedicated-cpus/).
- **Shared**: A [context-switching mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context_switch) allows a physical core to be shared between multiple vCPUs for multitasking. Instances with shared vCPU can be more cost-effective for running small, non-resource-intensive applications than dedicated vCPU Instances. Our different types of shared vCPU Instances offer a variety of options to balance price and performance depending on your use case.
- **Dedicated**: Instances with dedicated vCPU do not share their compute resources with other Instances (1 vCPU = 1 CPU thread dedicated to that Instance). This type of Instance is particularly recommended for running production-grade compute-intensive applications.

<Message type="tip">
Scaleway provides Instances equipped with either x86 or ARM CPUs. ARM Instances generally offer higher energy and cost efficiency, while x86 cloud instances provide wider software compatibility and stronger single-thread performance. [Learn more about the differences between ARM and x86-based Instances](/instances/reference-content/understanding-differences-x86-arm/).
Scaleway provides CPU Instances equipped with either x86 or ARM CPUs. ARM Instances generally offer higher energy and cost efficiency, while x86 Instances provide wider software compatibility and stronger single-thread performance. [Learn more about the differences between ARM and x86-based Instances](/instances/reference-content/understanding-differences-x86-arm/).
</Message>

* **Core**: A core is a physical unit of vCPU. More cores give an Instance more computing power. A description of an Instance's cores may look something like `4 x86 64bit`, where **4** refers to the number of cores, **x86** refers to the microprocessor family, and **64bit** refers to the chunk size used by the microprocessor for processing data.
Expand All @@ -58,15 +58,82 @@ Use this table to help identify the right Instance range for your use case and c
| **Use cases** | Discovering the Scaleway ecosystem<br />Hosting personal projects | Scaling your development and testing environment<br />Hosting CI/CD runners and containerized worker nodes | Hosting production workloads and business-critical applications<br />Ensuring predictable CPU performance in the face of high traffic | Hosting high-demanding analysis, in-memory calculation, big-data processing, high-performance or cache databases<br />Designed for high-performance web-serving, video encoding, machine learning, batch processing, CI/CD |
| **Supported storage** | Resilient Block Storage or Local Storage | Resilient Block Storage or Local Storage, OR Resilient Block Storage only (depending on Instance type) | Resilient Block Storage | Resilient Block Storage |
| **vCPU** | 1 core | From 1 to 32 cores | From 2 to 96 cores | From 2 to 64 cores |
| **Shared/Dedicated** | Shared vCPU | Shared vCPU | Dedicated vCPU | Dedicated vCPU |
| **Shared/Dedicated** | [Shared vCPU](/docs/instances/reference-content/choosing-shared-vs-dedicated-cpus/#shared-vcpu-instances) | [Shared vCPU](/docs/instances/reference-content/choosing-shared-vs-dedicated-cpus/#shared-vcpu-instances) | [Dedicated vCPU](/instances/reference-content/choosing-shared-vs-dedicated-cpus/#dedicated-vcpu-instances) | [Dedicated vCPU](/instances/reference-content/choosing-shared-vs-dedicated-cpus/#dedicated-vcpu-instances) |
| **RAM** | 1 GiB | From 2 GiB to 128 GiB | From 8 GiB to 384 GiB | From 4 GiB to 512 GiB |
| **Maximum Bandwidth** | 100 Mbit/s | From 100 Mbps to 6 Gbps | From 400 Mbps to 20 Gbps | From 400 Mbps to 12.8 Gbps |

For more information about each range, refer to our dedicated documentation pages:
- [Learning](/instances/reference-content/learning/)
- [Cost-Optimized](/instances/reference-content/cost-optimized/)
- [Production-Optimized](/instances/reference-content/production-optimized/)
- [Workload-Optimized](/instances/reference-content/workload-optimized/)
Refer to the tabs below to compare the different Instance ranges and learn more about their key use cases:

<Tabs id="comparison">
<TabsTab label="Learning Instances">
Scaleway Learning Instances are virtual machines tailored for educational use, providing an ideal environment for discovering and experimenting with cloud computing.
Perfect for hosting small, self-contained applications like a LAMP website, code repository backups, or an internal wiki, these Instances eliminate the need to overpay for minimal personal projects.

Key use cases include:
* Personal or low-traffic websites
* Blogs
* Development and test environments
* Microservice hosting
* Repository hosting

Each Instance comes equipped with a single shared vCPU, 1 GB of RAM, and up to 100 Mbps of bandwidth. By adding an IPv4 address and 10 GB of storage, you can get started immediately. You can create up to one Instance per Availability Zone, currently available in FR-PAR-1, NL-AMS-1 and PL-WAW-2.

Learn more about [Learning Instances](/instances/reference-content/learning/)
</TabsTab>
<TabsTab label="Cost-Optimized Instances">
Scaleway Cost-Optimized Instances are highly reliable and affordably priced, making them an ideal choice for businesses looking to balance operational flexibility, cost-efficiency, and performance.
Designed for lightweight applications, development environments, and low-intensity workloads, these Instances offer a budget-friendly cloud solution.

Key use cases include:
* Larger development and testing environments
* Low-traffic website hosting
* Web application hosting
* Hosting worker nodes in container ecosystems
* CI/CD runners

Cost-Optimized Instances provide a cost-efficient yet powerful compute platform suitable for both development and light production use. Equipped with shared AMD EPYC™ vCPUs and ranging from 2 GiB to 128 GiB of RAM, they cater to a wide array of workloads with solid performance.

Learn more about [Cost-Optimized Instaces](/instances/reference-content/cost-optimized/)

</TabsTab>
<TabsTab label="Production-Optimized Instances">
Scaleway Production-Optimized Instances are reliable, high-performance Instances with dedicated vCPUs, designed for the most demanding workloads and mission-critical applications. Leveraging the state-of-the-art AMD EPYC™ 7003 series processors, they deliver exceptional performance and production-grade computing.
Designed for critical production environments and high-traffic applications, these Instances prioritize performance and reliability with an optimal mix of compute, memory, and network resources.

Key use cases include:
* Critical production environments
* High-traffic applications
* Data analytics and business intelligence applications
* Hosting of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms

Production-Optimized Instances provide high performance, security, and scalability, enabling organizations to efficiently manage high-traffic applications and build resilient architectures. Features like CPU pinning ensure optimized performance and reliability for your production workloads.

Learn more about [Production-Optimized Instances](/instances/reference-content/production-optimized/)
</TabsTab>
<TabsTab label="Workload-Optimized Instances">
Scaleway Workload-Optimized Instances are designed to handle specific types of workloads efficiently, meeting the demands of applications that require high CPU or memory resources. These Instances are ideal for running compute-intensive or memory-intensive applications such as data analytics, high-performance databases, and machine learning inference.

Tailored for businesses with fluctuating needs, these Instances allow for optimal use of resources and cost-effectiveness. Two variants are on offer:

* **POP2-HC**: Designed for compute-intensive tasks, this Instance features a high-performance CPU/RAM ratio (AMD EPYC 7543) and is ideal for compute-heavy workloads.
* **POP2-HM**: Engineered for memory-demanding applications, this Instance offers abundant RAM and is suitable for memory-intensive workloads.

Key use cases include:
* RAM-intensive workloads:
* High-demanding analysis
* In-memory calculations
* Big-data processing
* CPU-intensive workloads:
* Video encoding
* Machine learning
* Batch processing

Workload-Optimized Instances precisely tailor your computing resources to your application’s needs, ensuring you neither overspend nor underperform. Whether managing CPU-intensive data analytics or memory-hungry databases, these Instances adapt to your workloads, providing a balanced, cost-effective, and high-performing cloud computing solution ready to meet your specific business challenges.

Learn more about [Workload-Optimized Instances](/instances/reference-content/workload-optimized/)

</TabsTab>
</Tabs>

## Instance types

Expand Down