Running AKIOS on AWS EC2
Want to test AKIOS at scale? This guide helps you set up on AWS and validate performance for your specific use case.
Read this if: You're testing AKIOS on AWS, need to understand performance expectations, or want to validate security on your infrastructure.
Time needed: 20 minutes setup + 10 minutes testing = ~30 minutes total.
Quick Decision: Which Instance?
Just testing / budget baseline? Start with t4g.micro (~$3/month)
- 1 vCPU (ARM64), 1GB RAM
- Our validated baseline (v1.0.11)
- Cheapest way to verify AKIOS works
General testing? Use t3.medium (~$15/month)
- 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM
- Good for development and learning
Small production workload? Use t3.large (~$30/month)
- 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM
- 2x the memory of t3.medium
- More burstable performance
Continuous high-throughput? Choose c6i.large (~$70/month)
- 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM
- Sustained performance (no burst limits)
- Best for always-on workloads
Unsure? Start with t4g.micro. Test it. Upgrade if needed.
Performance to Expect
On t4g.micro (our validated baseline as of v1.0.11):
- Security pipeline: ~0.47ms (full pipeline: PII + policy + audit + budget)
- PII scan: ~0.46ms (53 regex patterns)
- Merkle hash: ~0.001ms (SHA-256)
- Docker cold start: ~1.4s
Real talk: These numbers are validated on t4g.micro in us-east-1. Performance on other instances should be comparable or better. Run the benchmark script on your instance to verify.
4-Step Setup
1. Create Instance
AWS Console → EC2 → Launch Instances:
- AMI: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or 24.04 LTS
- Type: t3.medium (or your choice)
- Key Pair: Create and save the .pem file securely
- Security: Allow SSH (port 22) from your IP
- Launch → wait 2-3 minutes
2. Connect
chmod 400 your-key.pem
ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-instance-ip
3. Install AKIOS
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-venv
pip install akios
4. Test It
akios setup # Choose your LLM provider, enter API key
akios run templates/hello-workflow.yml
Check output in data/output/
Verify It Works
# Check security is active
akios status --security
# Look for: "Full (kernel-hard)" or "Strong (policy-based)"
# Check PII redaction
echo "email: test@example.com" > sample.txt
akios test --input sample.txt
# Should show email redacted in output
# Review audit logs
cat audit/audit_events.jsonl | head -3
All three pass? Great! AKIOS is working on your instance.
Troubleshooting
Can't SSH?
- Check security group allows port 22
- Use correct username:
ubuntufor Ubuntu AMIs - Try:
ssh -v -i key.pem ubuntu@ipfor details
Slow performance?
- Check CPU/memory:
top - Test network:
ping 8.8.8.8 - Try larger instance if needed
High memory usage?
- Check available:
free -h - Reduce workflow input size
- Try r6i instance for memory-intensive work
Command not found?
pip install --upgrade akios
Costs
t3.medium: ~$15/month
t3.large: ~$30/month
c6i.large: ~$70/month
Tips:
- Stop instances when not testing (pauses costs)
- Terminate when done (full cleanup)
- Watch your bill during testing
- Set AWS billing alerts
Your Responsibilities
✅ You handle:
- AWS account security and access keys
- Instance configuration and security groups
- Monitoring and stopping instances
- AWS and data transfer costs
✅ We provide:
- Secure sandbox isolation
- PII redaction (53 patterns)
- Audit logging
- Budget controls for LLM API calls
Security Basics
- Keep
.pemfiles secure (never commit to git) - Restrict security group to your IP only
- Use IAM roles, not root credentials
- Rotate credentials regularly
- Terminate instances when done
Next Steps
- Deployment Guide — Production best practices
- Security Guide — Hardening details
- Best Practices — Workflow patterns
Legal: AKIOS is provided "as-is." You're responsible for AWS security, costs, and validating performance on your chosen infrastructure. We validate baseline performance on t4g.micro in us-east-1 only.