Key Concepts
The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) service offers accelerated instances for large-scale parallel computing, utilized across diverse fields including data analysis, scientific computations, deep learning, and gaming graphics.
Instance
Instances are virtualized hardware resources, and costs are charged based on resource usage. Instances have various states including operational and task states, and users can check these to perform management functions.
Instance type
Instance types are virtualized hardware resources like virtual CPUs (vCPUs) and system memory. KakaoCloud offers dedicated hardware cards (GPU, NPU, etc.) to speed up high-performance computing tasks in Accelerated Computing. Each instance has varying computing and memory capabilities, with CPU hyper-threading enabled
- For GPU instance type information, please refer to GPU.
- For NPU instance type information, please refer to NPU.
Instance lifecycle
Check the process from instance creation to return through the instance's state values and lifecycle. Instances provide state values for monitoring, and management functions can be executed by checking these state values.
The lifecycle of a GPU instance is as follows.
Instances are not charged in the Shelved offloaded state, but the attached volumes continue to be charged.
Instance lifecycle
Commands/Features
| Feature name (CLI command) | Description | State after execution |
|---|---|---|
Start (start) | Starts the instance | Active |
Stop (stop) | Stops the instance | Stopped |
Hard reboot (hard reboot) | Hard reboots the instance | Active |
Terminate (terminate) | Shelves the instance | Shelved_offloaded |
Instance rebuild (rebuild) | Reinstall instance OS image and reset keypair | Active |
Change instance type (resize) | Change the instance type | - |
Delete (delete) | Completely delete the instance | - |
Instance state and billing
| State | Description | Billed |
|---|---|---|
Active | Running the instance | Yes |
Shelved_offloaded | Terminating the instance and returning resources allocated on the hypervisor | No |
Stopped | Stopping the instance while still allocating resources on the hypervisor | Yes |
Error | Encountering an error, making the instance unusable | No |
Building | Allocating resources on the hypervisor to create the instance | No |
Starting | Starting the configuration of the instance | No |
Scheduling | Progressing the scheduling of the instance | No |
Block_device_mapping | Configuring the instance's volume | No |
Networking | Configuring the instance's network | No |
Spawning | Creating the instance | No |
Rebooting | Beginning the instance restart | Yes |
Reboot_started | Restarting the instance | Yes |
Rebooting_hard | Forcibly restarting the instance | Yes |
Rebooting_started_hard | Forcibly restarting the instance | Yes |
Shelving | Terminating the instance | Yes |
Unshelving | Restarting a terminated instance | No |
Powering-off | Stopping the instance | Yes |
Powering-on | Restarting a stopped instance | Yes |
Resize_prep | Preparing to change the instance type | No |
Resize_migrating | Migrating to the target instance type | No |
Resize_migrated | Completing preliminary migration to the target instance type | No |
Resize_finished | Completing the transition to a new instance type, moving to confirmation | No |
Resized | Finishing the instance type transition, deciding on completion or reversal | No |
Resize_confirm | Finalizing the instance type transition | No |
Resize_revert | Reverting to the original instance type after cancelling the transition | No |
Deleting | Work in progress to completely delete the instance | No |
Image
Select an image containing the necessary operating system (OS) and applications for your purpose to start an instance. Find the one of the following types of images. For a detailed description of images, please refer to Manage image.
Image Tab Features
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Default | Images provided by KakaoCloud including Linux and Windows images - Access these basic images and create instances - Build cloud instances that are safe and secure |
| My Image | Create custom images only within their account, and to create new instances |
Volumes
Volumes are spaces where actual data is stored. KakaoCloud Block Storage provides volumes, which are block storage devices. Currently, only SSD type volumes are supported. Through Block Storage, you can create volumes, connect them to instances, install operating systems, configure file systems, and run databases. For a detailed description of volumes, please refer to Create and manage volume.
Volume state
The states of volumes provided by Block Storage are as follows.
| Volume state | Description |
|---|---|
Creating | Volume is being created. |
Available | Volume is configured and ready to use. |
In-use | Volume is attached to an instance (Instance is in Active, Stopped state). |
Reserved | Volume is attached to an instance (Instance is in Shelved_offloaded state). |
Attaching / Detaching | Volume is being attached/detached to/from an instance. |
Extending | Volume is being resized. |
Backing-Up | Snapshot of the volume is being created. |
Uploading | Instance is being created as an image and stored as a volume. |
Deleting | Volume is being deleted. |
Error | An error has occurred, and the volume is unusable. |
Volume size limit
Depending on the image environment of the selected operating system, size limitations may vary.
| Item | Size (GB) |
|---|---|
| Minimum Size | 1 |
| Maximum Size | 5,120 |
Key pair
Key pair refers to keys used for credential verification when connecting to an instance, consisting of a public key and a private key. Public keys can be registered and managed for instance access security.
Network and security
All instances are provided in a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) environment. KakaoCloud VPC provides network and security functions, allowing you to build a logically separated service environment according to your network requirements. When creating an instance, select a VPC and subnet, and connect a public IP to the instance. For a detailed description, refer to VPC > Public IP.
IAM-based role management
Role management follows IAM role-based access control (RBAC), and all resources within the product are created and managed under the project.
Users with project permissions (Project Admin/Members) can create and manage all resources within the project. However, only the creator can delete a key pair.
| Permissions by Role | Project Admin | Project Member | Project Reader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manage project members | ✓ | ||
| Associate public IP | ✓ | ||
| Manage instance | ✓ | ✓ | △(Read-only) |
| Volume | ✓ | ✓ | △(Read-only) |
| Image | ✓ | ✓ | △(Read-only) |
| Key pair | ✓ | ✓ | △(Read-only) |