Understanding Cloud GPU Pricing: A Hotel Analogy

🌟 Understanding Cloud GPU Pricing: A Hotel Analogy 🏨

Hey there, AI and ML enthusiasts! πŸ€– Have you ever wondered about the cost of cloud GPU resources for your projects? You’re not alone! Let’s dive into this world and make sense of it together, shall we?

The Cost Dilemma πŸ€”πŸ’°

Owning a single GPU can cost a pretty penny - we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars! 😱 So, naturally, cloud GPU resources seem like a fantastic way to kickstart your AI and ML projects without emptying your wallet. But how do you decide which cloud provider is your best bet? AWS? Azure? Google Cloud? The options are endless, and so are their pricing models! 😡

The Hotel Analogy πŸ¨πŸ”

Ever feel overwhelmed by all the numbers while comparing cloud providers? It’s like trying to remember a dream – the details fade away as soon as you move on to something else. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈπŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Here’s a fun way to remember – let’s compare cloud GPU costs to something everyone gets – hotel prices! πŸ›οΈ

Types of Hotels and What They Mean for Your Wallet πŸ¨πŸ’Έ

Cloud providers offer various type of nodes, each with different number of GPUs and RAM. Just like hotels, they come in different sizes and prices. 🏨

A100 comes with 80GB or 40GB of RAM. The price of a node with 1x A100-80GB is close to the price of a node with 2 x A100 40GB of RAM.

Just like a single room with a king bed is the same price as a double room with two queen beds. πŸ›Œ

For simplicity, we will use the price for a single A100-80GB GPU as a reference point. πŸ“

  • Dormitory ($20/day) - Think of it as $1/hour.

    • EPFL RUNAI ($14/day) πŸ•οΈ
  • Hostel ($50/day) - That’s like spending $2/hour.

    • Lambda ($36/day) πŸ›Œ
    • Datacrunch.io ($44/day) πŸ›Œ
    • RunPod ($46/day) πŸ›Œ
    • FluidStack ($53/day) πŸ›Œ
    • Jarvis ($53/day) πŸ›Œ
    • Oblivus Cloud ($61/day) πŸ›Œ
    • Latitude.sh ($70/day) πŸ›Œ
    • Paperspace ($76/day) πŸ›Œ
  • Economy Hotel ($100/day) - Equivalent to $4/hour.

    • GCP ($88/day) 🏨
    • Azure ($90/day) 🏨
    • Oracle ($96/day) 🏨
  • 3-Star Hotel ($150/day) - Like spending $6/hour.

    • AWS ($120/day) 🌟
    • Replicate ($120/day) 🌟

Estimating Your Project Budget πŸ’ΌπŸ“Š

Let’s say you need a GPU like the A100-80GB for your 10-day training mission. It’s like planning a 10-day stay and the type of hotel you pick decides your bill. πŸ“…πŸ’»

  • Opt for a dormitory? Your bill is around $200. βœ…
  • Thinking about a 3-star hotel? That’s $1500. πŸ’°

And if your project is bigger, like needing 4 GPUs, it’s like booking 4 hotel rooms for 10 days. Choose a 3-star and you’re looking at $6000. Big project, big spend! πŸ’Έ

References πŸ“š

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Saibo Geng
Saibo Geng
PhD student in EPFL

My research interest is improving LLM’s performance through decoding methods.