How to get consistent CPU utilization on AWS

Question

I've now learnt that when I start a new EC2 instance it has a certain number of CPU credits due to which it's performance is high when it starts processing but gradually reduces over time as the credits run out. Past that point, the instance runs at which appears to be the baseline CPU utilisation rate. To numerate, when I started the EC2 instance (t2.nano), Cloudwatch reported around 80% CPU utilisation gradually decreasing down to 5%.

Now I'm happy to use one of the better instance types pending the instance limit request. But whilst that is in progress, I'd like to know whether the issue of reducing performance over time will still hold even with the better instance type?

Would I require a dedicated host setup if I wish to ensure I get consistent CPU utilisation? The only problem I can see here is that I'm running a SQS worker queue and Elastic Beanstalk allows us to easily setup a worker environment which reads messages from the queue. From what I've read and from looking at the configuration options available in Elastic Beanstalk, I don't think I'll be able to launch instances into a dedicated host directly. Most of my reading has lead me to believe that I'll have to learn how to use a VPC. Would that be correct?

So I guess my questions are - would simply increasing the instance type to a more powerful instance guarantee consistent CPU utilisation performance or is a dedicated host required and if so, is it possible to set up one with Elastic Beanstalk or would it have to be setup manually and if it is set up manually can it be configured to work with an SQS queue automatically?

Answer 1

If you want consistent CPU performance, you should avoid the burstable performance instances (the T2 family). All other families of instances (M5, C5, etc) will have consistent CPU performance over time. You can use any instance family with Elastic Beanstalk. No need for a dedicated host.