What is the exact purpose of Azure batch, I would like to know the use case, and any document to implement? is it paas service?

Hello, @Varma ! What is Azure batch? Azure Batch allows you to run large-scale parallel and high-performance computing (HPC) batch jobs efficiently in Azure. Azure Batch manages the computer nodes, installs applications, and schedules the jobs you want to run. You only pay for the compute resources you use so there's no additional charge for using Azure Batch. You use Batch APIs, tools, and CLIs to run and manage your jobs. This is perfect for parallel workloads like: Financial risk modeling using Monte Carlo simulations VFX and 3D image rendering Image analysis and processing Media transcoding Genetic sequence analysis Optical character recognition (OCR) Data ingestion, processing, and ETL operations Software test execution It's also good for tightly coupled workloads: Finite element analysis Fluid dynamics Multi-node AI training If you are looking for a tutorial, I would check out the quickstart as well as the tutorial section: Quickstart: Use the Azure portal to create a Batch account and run a job Tutorial: Run a parallel workload with Azure Batch using the .NET API Is it PaaS? It's more PaaS than IaaS, although it has parallels with VMs and compute nodes. Additional reading: Azure Batch product page Azure Batch documentation I hope this has been helpful! Your feedback is important so please take a moment to accept answers . If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

Questions on Azure Batch service

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kobulloc-MSFT 23,491 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-06T16:51:47.9+00:00
Hello, @Varma !

What is Azure batch?

Azure Batch allows you to run large-scale parallel and high-performance computing (HPC) batch jobs efficiently in Azure. Azure Batch manages the computer nodes, installs applications, and schedules the jobs you want to run. You only pay for the compute resources you use so there's no additional charge for using Azure Batch. You use Batch APIs, tools, and CLIs to run and manage your jobs.

This is perfect for parallel workloads like:

Financial risk modeling using Monte Carlo simulations

VFX and 3D image rendering

Image analysis and processing

Media transcoding

Genetic sequence analysis

Optical character recognition (OCR)

Data ingestion, processing, and ETL operations

Software test execution

It's also good for tightly coupled workloads:

Finite element analysis

Fluid dynamics

Multi-node AI training

If you are looking for a tutorial, I would check out the quickstart as well as the tutorial section:

Quickstart: Use the Azure portal to create a Batch account and run a job

Tutorial: Run a parallel workload with Azure Batch using the .NET API

Is it PaaS? It's more PaaS than IaaS, although it has parallels with VMs and compute nodes.

Additional reading:

Azure Batch product page

Azure Batch documentation

I hope this has been helpful! Your feedback is important so please take a moment to accept answers.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!
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Varma 1,140 Reputation points

2024-03-07T10:56:09.9433333+00:00

Hi Kobulloc,

Could you please clarify my further follow up questions?

Since we are managing only code, Why we need large scale parllel and high performance computing batch jobs?

how exactly this azure batch would help?

kobulloc-MSFT 23,491 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-07T18:41:03.0866667+00:00

Hello, @Varma !

I would need to know more about what your goals are to properly answer your question but Azure Batch is designed to provide computing power for tasks that can be run in parallel or in tightly coupled workloads.

Managing code can mean a lot of things but likely does not apply to Azure Batch or parallel jobs. It's important to understand parallel use case scenarios, which I'll address below.

Using an Azure Batch use case as an example, if you needed to render tens of thousands of images from 3D software for a video that you want to create, that could take a very long time on a single compute resource. Azure Batch would allow you to run that in parallel which would provide an ideal solution as each compute resource would cut down the time required. Instead of an 8 day job on 1 compute resource, it would be a 2 day job on 4 compute resources. This provides huge time savings and provides an efficient way to handle large scale compute jobs that can be run in parallel.

Varma 1,140 Reputation points

2024-03-08T08:06:19.38+00:00

Hi Kobulloc,

I am bit clear now,

Can you give me real time app which is using batch service. and how it is benefitted?

kobulloc-MSFT 23,491 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-08T16:49:14.44+00:00

Hello, @Varma !

So looking at the list of parallel workloads mentioned, most of this is a large volume of compute work (things that take hours or days like rendering, image analysis, test execution) that can be broken up into chunks and done at the same time. Maya, 3ds Max, and Blender are two programs that use Azure Batch very effectively.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/batch/batch-rendering-service

The rendering workload is heavily used for special effects (VFX) in the Media and Entertainment industry. Rendering is also used in many other industries such as advertising, retail, oil and gas, and manufacturing. The process of rendering is computationally intensive; there can be many frames/images to produce and each image can take many hours to render. Rendering is therefore a perfect batch processing workload that can use Azure to run many renders in parallel and utilize a wide range of hardware, including GPUs. Individual frames can be complex and require many hours to render, even on high-end hardware; animations can consist of hundreds of thousands of frames. A huge amount of compute is required to render high-quality animations in a reasonable amount of time. In some cases, over 100,000 cores are being used to render thousands of frames in parallel.
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