vCPU
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Cloud Computing
| Stands for | Virtual central processing unit |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
vCPU stands for Virtual central processing unit, a cloud computing abbreviation.
A share of a physical processor assigned to a virtual machine, usually corresponding to one hardware thread of a CPU core. Cloud instance sizes are described in vCPUs and memory, such as 4 vCPUs and 16 GB.
Example: The c7i.xlarge instance gives the build server 4 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory.
Usage notes
On x86 servers with simultaneous multithreading, two vCPUs typically equal one physical core, so performance per vCPU varies between providers and chip types. Burstable instances deliver only a fraction of a vCPU's sustained performance. Software licenses priced per core may count vCPUs differently.
Related abbreviations
More cloud computing abbreviations
- AIOps – Artificial intelligence for IT operations
- AKS – Azure Kubernetes Service
- AMI – Amazon Machine Image
- APM – Application performance monitoring
- ARN – Amazon Resource Name
- AWS – Amazon Web Services
- AZ – Availability zone
- BaaS – Backend as a service
- CaaS – Containers as a service
- CDK – Cloud Development Kit
- CNCF – Cloud Native Computing Foundation
- CSP – Cloud service provider