What is the maximum RAM available per rented server?
In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the "maximum RAM" is not a single number; it depends on whether you are renting a Virtual Machine (VM) or a Bare Metal (BM) server.
As of early 2026, the ceiling for memory has reached impressive heights, particularly with the introduction of the AMD E6 and NVIDIA Blackwell generations.
If you need the maximum possible RAM on a single physical box, Bare Metal is the way to go.
Standard Workloads: The BM.Standard.E6.256 (AMD EPYC 5th Gen) currently offers up to 3,072 GB (3 TB) of RAM.
AI & GPU Workloads: The latest GPU shapes, such as the BM.GPU.MI355X.8 (AMD Instinct), also reach 3,072 GB (3 TB) of system RAM, while the NVIDIA Blackwell (B200) shapes typically feature 2,048 GB (2 TB) of system RAM alongside their massive HBM3e video memory.
Legacy High-Memory: The previous generation BM.Standard.E5.192 tops out at 2,304 GB (2.3 TB).
OCI’s "Flexible" shapes allow you to scale RAM independently of CPU, but there is still a per-VM ceiling.
AMD E6 Flex: You can provision a single VM with up to 1,454 GB of RAM.
AMD E5 Flex: Supports up to 1,049 GB of RAM.
Arm (Ampere A2/A4): These offer up to 946 GB and 700 GB respectively.
Intel Standard3: Typically caps at 512 GB per VM.
For customers running VMware, you are essentially renting Bare Metal nodes to form a cluster. In this scenario, you can leverage the 2.3 TB to 3 TB per node. If you cluster several of these, your total pool of RAM for your private cloud environment can reach hundreds of terabytes.
| Shape Family | Processor Generation | Max RAM (Bare Metal) | Max RAM (VM) |
| AMD E6 | 5th Gen EPYC | 3,072 GB (3 TB) | 1,454 GB |
| AMD E5 | 4th Gen EPYC | 2,304 GB | 1,049 GB |
| NVIDIA GPU | Blackwell / Hopper | 2,048 GB - 3,072 GB | 64 GB - 128 GB* |
| Arm A2/A4 | AmpereOne | 1,024 GB+ | 700 GB - 946 GB |
*GPU VMs are typically smaller slices; full memory requires Bare Metal.
While you can customize your RAM, most OCI shapes have a "standard" ratio of 64 GB of RAM per 1 OCPU. If you try to exceed this ratio (e.g., asking for 512 GB of RAM for only 2 CPUs), the system may require you to use "Extended Memory" pricing, which carries a small premium.