Compute Instances
In addition to being able to create and curate "compute profiles" and "service profiles", admins with a PaaS Admin role can also launch and operate compute instances and services as a "managed service" for their users.
There are situations where administrators will need to deploy and operate compute and service instances on behalf of their end users. For example, an organization may want to provide their Data Scientists and ML Researchers with a "managed service" internally for MLOps. To deliver this, the administrator can deploy Rafay's Kubeflow based MLOps Platform (a service profile) and the "compute instance" needed to operate it.
Managed Compute Instance¶
To create a compute instance, access PaaS Studio and navigate to the home page. The page provides options to manage instances, including compute instances, which can be customized to meet specific requirements. Click on the Compute Instances menu on the left to access the compute instances page.
Click on New Compute Instance. A prompt will appear to specify the following in a wizard-like experience.
The workflow is identical to the end user workflows for a compute instance.
Info
A good example of a compute instance managed by an admin is a large, dedicated cluster with 100 GPUs meant for training of a LLM. Clusters like this need to have a high uptime and operational issues can result in significant delays to the training job.
Available Compute Instances¶
The list of compute Instances available for use with compute instances is displayed here. Choose the desired profile and fill in the necessary details
Unique Name¶
Provide a unique name for the service profile (e.g. gpu-instance-prod). Note that you cannot change the unique name once the profile has been created.
Display Name¶
This is typically a user friendly name such as "gpu-instance-prod" that will make sense to the end users. This name is what the end users will see an experience.
Description¶
Provide a multiple sentence description that will help the end users understand more details about the compute instance.
Compute Profile¶
When ready to proceed with the selected compute profile, click Save & Continue. Alternatively, click Change Compute Profile to select a different profile
The Overview page will display the Deploying Status as Waiting while the process is pending.
Labels¶
Labels are optional metadata in the form of key-value pairs that will be automatically attached to the resulting compute instances when they are launched. Labels help in categorizing and organizing compute instances based on specific criteria like environment, project, or team.
Annotations¶
Annotations are also optional metadata in key-value pair format, but unlike labels, they are typically used for descriptive purposes rather than for categorization or filtering. Annotations provide additional context or information about the compute instance.
- Users can either click Save Changes to save the configuration for later publishing, keeping the deployment status as Not Deployed
- Click Deploy to immediately proceed with publishing the changes
- On clicking Deploy, the instance deployment process begins, and the status updates to In Progress
- To add or edit the labels and annotations, click the Edit Configuration button. This will direct to the Overview page, where changes to labels and annotations can be made
Note: - Instances with the status In Progress cannot be destroyed. This restriction ensures that the deployment process is not interrupted or corrupted - The publishing duration depends on the underlying environment template used
Once publishing is successful, the deployment status changes to Success
View Compute Instances¶
When PaaS Admins click on the compute instance menu on the left, the entire list of compute instances available are listed. They can search for the compute instances by providing input into the search box. Some basic information about a compute instance is shown to the admin in the main listing.
- Unique Name
- Creation Date
- Publish Status
- Sharing
- Actions Menu (ellipses)
To view additional details about a compute instance, simply click on it. This will display all the details the administrator had configured during initial creation.
Update Compute Instance¶
Follow the steps above for "View" compute instance. Alternatively, click on the actions (ellipses) on the far right of a compute instance and select "Edit Configuration". PaaS Admins can now make necessary changes to the compute instance and save it.
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Any changes will go into effect only for "new" services that are launched based on the profile. Already running instances will not be impacted.
Delete Compute Instance¶
To delete a compute instance, click on the actions (ellipses) on the far right of a compute instance and select delete.
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This is a destruction action and cannot be reversed. Once a compute instance is deleted, it is no longer available to end users for use.
Share Compute Instance¶
To share a compute instance with selected or all projects, click on the actions (ellipses) on the far right of a service profile and select "Manage Sharing". Now, select how you wish to share the project. The options are:
- None (This is the default)
- All Projects
- Selected Projects
The ability to share compute instance with other projects allows platform teams to centralize the mgmt of service profiles and share them hierarchically with downstream projects where they can be used by end users in multiple teams/departments.
