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GPU Compute Service

Getting started

NVIDIA driver installation guide

Driver introduction

NVIDIA drivers are programs used to drive NVIDIA GPU cards. As the software corresponding to the hardware, they enhance the operating system's compatibility with the GPU chipset. Currently, all GPU instances provided by VolcanoEngine are Compute-optimized, which is a GPU pass-through type, requiring GPU drivers to be installed to drive the physical GPU cards and unleash their capabilities.

Currently, GPU instances support the following two types of NVIDIA drivers (the latest driver version is recommended):

Driver type	Description	Fee
Tesla driver	Used to drive physical GPU cards, enabling general computing capabilities on GPU instances. This type is applicable for deep learning, inference, AI, and other scenarios. We recommended using Tesla drivers with CUDA and cuDNN libraries to utilize GPU cards more efficiently.	Free
GRID driver	Used to obtain graphics acceleration capabilities of GPU cards, applicable for graphics computing scenarios like OpenGL.	You need to purchase an NVIDIA GRID License.

Operation guide

Select the required driver type and installation method based on instance type and operating system. For instance types, refer to GPU instance family list.

Instance type	Recommended driver type	Supported installation methods
Compute-optimized instance	Tesla driver	During instance creation: (Recommended) Configure the driver to be automatically installed after you select a public image (Linux) of the standard version (Recommended) Use a public image of the GPU version with a pre-installed Tesla driver After you create an instance: Manually install the GPU driver, the CUDA toolkit, and then the Fabric Manager package (Recommended) Use the cloud assistant to batch install Tesla drivers Select a public image with a pre-installed driver when you change the instance operating system
Rendering instance	GRID driver	When you are creating an instance: (Recommended) Use a public image with the GRID driver pre-installed to automatically load the GRID driver After you create an instance: Apply for License and manually install the GRID driver

tip

When creating a rendering instance, you can select a public image with a pre-installed GRID driver. This enables the GRID driver with an activated License to be loaded automatically. Thus, no need to install the driver manually. If you need a Compute-optimized instance for graphics acceleration scenarios, apply for a License from the official NVIDIA website.