Creating a GPU virtual machine on Azure VM

Question

Hello,

I am trying to create a Linux virtual machine using Azure Virtual Machine service with the NVIDIA HPC SDK GPU-optimized image. The main use case is for teaching. If possible a free tier is preferred, but if not a on demand price is also acceptable.

We are trying to give a tutorial/ short course at our university teaching programming on GPUs and would like to provide students with a hands on approach. Therefore what I would like to do is:

1. Create a Linux virtual machine with something around 8 GPUs (Even NVIDIA K80s are okay), possibly with the HPC SDK image.
2. Deploy this machine for a certain day for a few hours such that it is persistent and running for the entire duration on that day.
3. Create a few accounts for the participants so that they can connect (via ssh) to the machine and run their code and exercises.

I am currently finding it difficult to:

1. Find appropriate "sizes" with an hourly on-demand type pricing
2. Trying to create with the NVIDIA-HPC SDK image seems to hang on the last review and create page.

Does someone already have some experience with doing something similar above ? Any pointers would be helpful.

Thanks,
Pratik.

Answer 1

Hello, @pratikvn !

This might be a good opportunity to reach out to Azure Sales as they'll be able to figure out exactly what services will meet your needs and your pricing goals. We tend to be more technical in nature in the forums but I'll do my best to give you a recommendation.

I'm teaching students. What low cost or free options are available?
Azure for Students gives each student a $100 credit as well as free services and the Azure free account provides each user $200 in Azure credit for the first 30 days and 12 months of free popular services in addition to 40+ always free services. Microsoft Learn is another great resource for learning about Azure if you want to follow courses that have already been created.

One thing to note is that GPU specific VMs may or may not be available on free service offerings so you'll need to check the offer details or FAQ for more information.

What is the best service for teaching a class where students can get hands on experience?
Azure Lab Services is an Azure service that allows you to quickly set up a classroom lab environment in the cloud. The instructor creates a classroom lab, provisions Windows or Linux machines with the necessary software and tools, and then makes them available to students. You can limit lab hours and manage student use.

What is Azure Lab Services? (Microsoft Learn)

It's also worth mentioning a neighboring service, Azure DevTest Labs. While targeting developers who self-manage virtual machines, it may provide some features that are useful depending on your needs.

What VM should I use?
You can look through the list of VM sizes to see what will work best for you. For a GPU optimized scenario, you'll be looking at the N-series and the NVIDIA K80 would be the NC-series.

Pricing and Images
NVIDIA has an NVIDIA HPC SDK GPU-Optimized image in the Azure Marketplace you can use along with support if you need help getting everything running. It also features an hourly and monthly rate.

I hope that helps!