In at this time’s quickly evolving panorama of synthetic intelligence (AI), coaching giant language fashions (LLMs) poses vital challenges. These fashions typically require monumental computational sources and complex infrastructure to deal with the huge quantities of knowledge and sophisticated algorithms concerned. With out a structured framework, the method can grow to be prohibitively time-consuming, expensive, and sophisticated. Enterprises wrestle with managing distributed coaching workloads, environment friendly useful resource utilization, and mannequin accuracy and efficiency. That is the place the NVIDIA NeMo Framework comes into play. On this put up, we current a step-by-step information to run distributed coaching workloads on an Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) cluster.
NVIDIA NeMo Framework
NVIDIA NeMo is an end-to-end cloud-centered framework for coaching and deploying generative AI fashions with billions and trillions of parameters at scale. The NVIDIA NeMo Framework offers a complete set of instruments, scripts, and recipes to assist every stage of the LLM journey, from knowledge preparation to coaching and deployment. It gives quite a lot of customization strategies and is optimized for at-scale inference of fashions for each language and picture functions, utilizing multi-GPU and multi-node configurations. NVIDIA NeMo simplifies generative AI mannequin improvement, making it more cost effective and environment friendly for enterprises. By offering end-to-end pipelines, superior parallelism strategies, memory-saving methods, and distributed checkpointing, NVIDIA NeMo makes certain AI mannequin coaching is streamlined, scalable, and high-performing.
The next are advantages of utilizing NVIDIA NeMo for distributed coaching:
- Finish-to-end pipelines for various levels comparable to knowledge preparation, coaching, and extra, which permits for a plug-and-play strategy to your customized knowledge
- Parallelism strategies, together with the next:
- Knowledge parallelism
- Tensor parallelism
- Pipeline parallelism
- Sequence parallelism
- Professional parallelism
- Context parallelism
- Reminiscence saving strategies, together with the next:
- Selective activation recompute
- CPU offloading (activation, weights)
- Consideration, together with Flash Consideration (FA 1/2, FA-cuDNN), Grouped Question Consideration, Multi-Question Consideration, and Sliding Window Consideration
- Distributed optimizers, together with Torch FSDP, Distributed Optimizer (zero-1)
- Knowledge loaders for various architectures
- Distributed checkpointing
Answer overview
You possibly can deploy and handle NVIDIA NeMo utilizing both Slurm or Kubernetes orchestration platforms. Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that makes it easy to run Kubernetes clusters on AWS. It manages the supply and scalability of the Kubernetes management airplane, and it offers compute node auto scaling and lifecycle administration assist that can assist you run extremely out there container functions.
Amazon EKS is a perfect platform for working distributed coaching workloads because of its strong integrations with AWS providers and efficiency options. It seamlessly integrates with Amazon FSx for Lustre, a high-throughput file system, enabling quick knowledge entry and administration utilizing persistent quantity claims with the FSx CSI driver. Amazon EKS additionally integrates with Amazon CloudWatch for complete logging and monitoring, offering insights into cluster efficiency and useful resource utilization. It helps Amazon Easy Storage Service (Amazon S3) for scalable and sturdy knowledge storage and administration, offering accessibility for giant datasets. Enhanced community efficiency is achieved with Elastic Material Adapter (EFA), which gives low-latency, high-throughput connectivity between nodes. These options collectively make Amazon EKS a strong and environment friendly alternative for optimizing AI and machine studying (ML) coaching workflows.
The next diagram exhibits the answer structure.
On this put up, we current the steps to run distributed coaching workloads on an EKS cluster. The high-level steps are as follows:
- Arrange an EFA enabled 2-node 24xlarge cluster.
- Arrange an FSx for Lustre file system so you possibly can have a shared knowledge repository for storing coaching dataset and mannequin checkpoints.
- Arrange an surroundings for NVIDIA NeMo.
- Modify the NVIDIA NeMo Kubernetes manifests to arrange a dataset and practice a mannequin.
Stipulations
You want to have the ability to launch a CPU-based Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) occasion that you simply’ll use to create the EKS cluster. When your occasion is up and working, SSH into your EC2 occasion and set up the next CLIs:
These steps might change if you’re on a non-Linux platform. Seek the advice of the previous documentation for putting in the CLIs on different platforms accordingly. We additionally require that you’ve got a capability reservation with p4de.24xlarge situations and have the capacityReservationID
.
Launch an EKS cluster
ECR p4de.24xlarge situations have the NVIDIA A100 80GB situations, that are extremely fashionable for distributed coaching generative AI workloads. For extra data, seek advice from Amazon EC2 Occasion Sorts. On this part, we present learn how to create an EKS cluster with an On-Demand Capability Reservation for p4de.24xlarge situations.
- We offer the cluster creation config in p4de-cluster-config.yaml. See the next code:
The next are key factors to notice when creating this cluster:
- Be sure that the kubectl model and the required Area are appropriate.
- Replace the
capacityReservationID
subject and ensure to specify theavailabilityZones
inside themanagedNodeGroups
part, which needs to be the identical Availability Zone ID wherein your capability lives. - This configuration will create two managed node teams: one for the system nodes utilizing
c5.2xlarge
situations and one other for working distributed coaching onp4de.24xlarge
situations. Managed node teams will use Amazon EKS optimized AMIs. If you wish to present a customized AMI, you possibly can create a self-managed node group and specify a customized AMI. To seek out the AMI ID, seek advice from Retrieving Amazon EKS optimized Amazon Linux AMI IDs. For extra particulars concerning the Amazon EKS optimized AMI, see the GitHub repo. - Be sure that
efaEnabled
is about totrue
. You need to use the identical config for making a cluster with different node teams. For an inventory of EFA supported occasion sorts, see Supported occasion sorts. - One other fashionable occasion for generative AI distributed coaching workloads is the
p5.48xlarge
occasion with the NVIDIA H100 80 GB GPU. So as to add a P5 node group to an present EKS cluster, seek advice from AWS CLI scripts for EKS administration.
- After the cluster is created, you possibly can allow kubectl to speak together with your cluster by including a brand new context to the kubectl config file:
- You possibly can affirm communication together with your cluster by working the next command:
Subsequent, you possibly can set up the AWS EFA Kubernetes Gadget Plugin. EFA is a community interface for EC2 situations that enhances the efficiency of inter-node communications, which is important for distributed coaching workloads that contain GPUs. This plugin permits Kubernetes to acknowledge and make the most of the EFA gadget, facilitating high-throughput, low-latency networking crucial for environment friendly distributed coaching and deep studying functions.
- Set up the plugin with the next code:
The NVIDIA gadget plugin for Kubernetes allows GPU assist inside your EKS cluster by exposing the GPUs to the Kubernetes API server via the kubelet. It advertises the out there GPU sources, permitting Kubernetes to schedule and handle GPU-accelerated workloads.
- Set up the plugin with the next code:
- Run the next command to confirm all of the pods:
- You possibly can run
kubectl get nodes
to confirm the nodes.
Alternatively, you should utilize the EKS node viewer device to view nodes, their prices, and their standing in your cluster. After it’s put in, enter eks-node-viewer
to get the next view.
The node viewer shows the IP addresses of our two p4de.24xlarge
compute nodes.
- We are able to select one in every of these personal IP DNS names to additional study and describe the node as follows:
The previous command describes plenty of element of the node. To verify EFA is put in accurately, ensure you see particulars as proven within the following screenshot.
For p4 nodes, you will notice vpc.amazonaws.com/efa:4
and for p5.48xlarge
nodes, you must see vpc.amazonaws.com/efa:32.
If EFA is enabled within the node group, guarantee that a safety group is hooked up to the nodes that enables a rule to permit all outgoing site visitors originating from the identical safety group. That is required for EFA to work. For directions, see Get began with EFA and MPI. This safety group is meant for testing functions solely. To your manufacturing environments, we suggest that you simply create an inbound SSH rule that enables site visitors solely from the IP tackle from which you’re connecting, such because the IP tackle of your laptop, or a variety of IP addresses in your native community.
Create an FSx for Lustre file system
For distributed coaching functions, usually a whole bunch of GPU situations are used, with every node containing a number of GPUs. It’s essential that every one nodes can entry a shared file system to coach on the identical dataset effectively. For this objective, a high-performance file system with excessive throughput and low latency is crucial. We suggest utilizing the FSx for Lustre file system for large-scale distributed coaching, as a result of it meets these necessities and offers seamless knowledge entry for all nodes concerned within the coaching course of.
To have a FSx for Lustre file system mounted in your EKS cluster, full the next steps:
- Use the next scripts to create an AWS Id and Entry Administration (IAM) function and connect the FSx coverage:
- Use the next script to create a safety group that enables EKS nodes to entry the file system:
- Create a 1.2 TB Persistent_2 FSx for Lustre file system from the FSx for Lustre console in the identical Availability Zone as your compute situations (
FSX_SUBNET_ID
), VPC of Amazon EKS (VPC_ID
), and the safety group you created (SECURITY_GROUP_ID
). - After the file system is created, word the file system ID, DNS title, and mount title from the file system particulars web page.
Earlier than mounting the file system, you should set up the FSx CSI driver that enables EKS clusters to handle the lifecycle of FSx for Lustre file programs.
- Set up the FSx CSI driver as follows:
- Subsequent, to mount the file system, present scripts within the fsx-storage-class.yaml, fsx-pv.yaml and fsx-pvc.yaml recordsdata:
You possibly can examine to guarantee that the volumes are in Certain
state.
Arrange the surroundings for NVIDIA NeMo
For this put up, we use the NVIDIA gadget plugin for Kubernetes, but when you should set up the GPU Operator, you are able to do in order follows:
To allow distributed coaching, we use the KubeFlow Coaching Operator, which is crucial for managing and scheduling ML coaching jobs in a Kubernetes surroundings. This operator simplifies the method of working distributed coaching jobs by automating the deployment and scaling of the mandatory parts. See the next code:
Moreover, we use the KubeFlow MPI Operator for preprocessing coaching knowledge in parallel. The MPI Operator facilitates working Message Passing Interface (MPI) jobs, that are essential for parallelizing the preprocessing duties throughout a number of nodes, thereby rushing up the coaching course of. See the next code:
The NVIDIA NeMo Framework is out there publicly within the picture nvcr.io/nvidia/nemo:24.01.framework
. We offer an AWS optimized Dockerfile to be used with P4 and P5 situations. We suggest the next library variations for optimum efficiency:
You possibly can construct and push the picture to Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR) as follows:
The NVIDIA NeMo Framework requires customers to supply config recordsdata with job and mannequin data. You possibly can copy the launcher scripts from the container as follows:
In a Slurm cluster implementation, the launcher scripts, knowledge, and outcomes folder might reside within the file system that each the top node (node from the place jobs are submitted) and compute nodes entry. However on this Amazon EKS implementation, the node that you simply used to create the EKS cluster doesn’t have entry to EKS file system. To get round this, you possibly can put the launcher scripts within the head node and the outcomes and knowledge folder within the file system that the compute nodes have entry to.
Run NVIDIA NeMo on an EKS cluster
We’re now able to arrange NVIDIA NeMo Kubernetes manifests for knowledge preparation and mannequin coaching. For extra details about working it on premises, see Working NeMo Framework on Kubernetes. There are some modifications to be accomplished for it to run on Amazon EKS, as proven within the following steps. We offer the launcher scripts within the GitHub repo.
- Modify the launcher_scripts/conf/cluster/k8s.yaml file as follows. The
subPath
subject is the trail the place FSx for Lustre is mounted, which is/fsx-shared
on this case. - Set up the required Python packages; that is required in order that NeMo Launcher can submit jobs to the Kubernetes cluster:
Subsequent, we copy the next folders from the container to the /fsx-shared/knowledge folder:
NeMo-Megatron-Launcher/launcher_scripts/knowledge/bpe
NeMo-Megatron-Launcher/launcher_scripts/knowledge/nsfw
- To repeat recordsdata from EKS pods, you can begin a pod only for this objective. Create a file
fsx-share-test.yaml
as follows: - Run this pod and duplicate the recordsdata:
A number of recordsdata should be up to date for knowledge preparation for it to work with the EKS cluster.
- Modify the launcher_scripts/conf/config.yaml file:
- For cluster, use
k8s
. - For coaching, use
gpt3/126m
. - For levels, this needs to be simply
data_preparation
and no different levels. - For
launcher_scripts_path
, use the trail to the NeMo Megatron launch scripts, which ought to finish with/launcher_scripts
. - For
data_dir
, use/fsx-shared/knowledge
(the placement to retailer and browse the information). - For
base_results_dir
, use/fsx-shared/outcomes
(the placement to retailer the outcomes, checkpoints, and logs). - For container, use
${REPOSITORY}${IMAGE}${TAG}
- For cluster, use
- Modify the conf/data_preparation/gpt3/download_gpt3_pile.yaml file:
- Set
node_array_size
to 2. - Set
file_numbers
to “0-5”. With 5 recordsdata, it needs to be round 350 GB of knowledge
- Set
- Modify the nemo_launcher/core/k8s_templates/data_preparation/data-prep.yaml file:
- In case you get the error that
mpirun just isn't discovered
, add the total path to the executable/decide/amazon/openmpi/bin/mpirun
. - Add
/fsx-shared
within the container quantity mount path. - Add the quantity:
- In case you get the error that
- Launch the information preparation job:
python3 essential.py
This script creates a Helm chart for the chosen stage (on this case, data_preparation
) and runs the Helm chart robotically. Seek advice from Run NeMo Framework on Kubernetes for a proof of the information preparation course of. Be sure that python3 is put in.
- You possibly can monitor your job standing and logs utilizing three instructions:
helm checklist, kubectl get pods, and kubectl logs --follow
). - When the job is completed, you possibly can take away the Helm chart:
helm uninstall download-gpt3-pile
You possibly can see the downloaded the information within the /fsx-shared
folder by working in one of many pods as kubectl exec -it nlp-worker-0 bash
.
Coaching
Now that our knowledge preparation is full, we’re prepared to coach our mannequin with the created dataset. Full the next steps:
- Modify a parameter within the
conf/config.yaml
file:- Set
levels
tocoaching
and no different levels.
- Set
- Modify parameters in
conf/coaching/gpt3/126m.yaml
:- Set
num_nodes
to 2. - Set
units
to 1. - On line 18, change
use_distributed_sampler
:False
toreplace_sampler_ddp
:False
.
- Set
Optionally, if you wish to use a mock dataset as an alternative of actual dataset for testing functions, you possibly can modify the knowledge
part as follows. You’re basically altering data_impl: mmap
to data_impl: mock
and assigning an empty checklist to data_prefix
.
- Modify the parameters within the
nemo_launcher/core/k8s_templates/coaching/coaching.yaml
file: - Run
python3 essential.py
to start out coaching and you must see the coaching pods by workingkubectl get pods
as follows:
Along with monitoring your job utilizing helm checklist, kubectl get pods, and kubectl logs –observe
, you may as well SSH into your pod with kubectl exec and use nvidia-smi
to examine GPU standing.
- When the job is completed, you possibly can delete the helm chart:
helm uninstall gpt3-126m
Mannequin checkpoints are saved at /fsx-shared/outcomes/checkpoints
together with different coaching logs and TensorBoard occasions. By default, checkpoints are saved at each 2,000 steps. You possibly can modify the conf/coaching/gpt3/126m.yaml
file to make modifications within the coaching setup.
Troubleshooting deployment failures
If deployment fails because of incorrect setup or configuration, full the next debug steps:
- Discover the error message by working
kubectl logs --follow PODNAME and kubectl describe pod PODNAME
. - Cease any working jobs by eradicating the Helm chart. This may be accomplished by working
helm uninstall CHARTNAME
.
Pods needs to be spun down after eradicating the Helm chart.
- You possibly can double-check by working
kubectl get pods
. - If pods will not be spun down, you possibly can manually cease them by working
kubectl delete PODNAME
.
Primarily based on the error message, you could discover errors from:
- Unready nodes.
- Lacking Operators or CRDs. On this case, be certain your
kubectl get pods -A
output seems to be like that proven earlier. If errors exist, strive reinstalling Operators and CRDs. - NeMo Framework scripts or Kubernetes manifests. That is extra possible a bug or incorrect setup on the NeMo facet. Errors can range.
Clear up
It’s vital to spin down sources after mannequin coaching so as to keep away from prices related to working idle situations. To scrub up our setup, we should delete the FSx for Lustre file system earlier than deleting the cluster as a result of it’s related to a subnet within the cluster’s VPC.
- To delete the file system integration with the EKS cluster, run the next command:
Not solely will this delete the persistent quantity, it should additionally delete the EFS file system and all the information on the file system shall be misplaced.
- When Step 1 is full, delete the cluster through the use of the next script:
This may delete all the present pods, take away the cluster, and delete the VPC you created to start with.
Conclusion
On this put up, we demonstrated learn how to practice generative AI fashions at scale utilizing the NeMo Framework inside an EKS cluster. We lined the challenges of coaching LLMs and the way NeMo’s complete instruments and optimizations tackle these challenges, making the method extra environment friendly and cost-effective. With NeMo, you possibly can handle and scale distributed coaching workloads successfully. This put up works with P4de situations. One other fashionable occasion for generative AI distributed coaching workloads is the p5.48xlarge occasion with the NVIDIA H100 80 GB GPU. So as to add a P5 node group to an present EKS cluster, seek advice from AWS CLI scripts for EKS administration.
That will help you get began, we’ve printed a GitHub repository that gives step-by-step directions for creating an EKS cluster with P4de situations, mounting an FSx for Lustre file system, and working distributed coaching workloads with NeMo. This information empowers you to harness the total potential of NeMo and Amazon EKS to your AI mannequin coaching wants.
In regards to the authors
Ankur Srivastava is a Sr. Options Architect within the ML Frameworks Group. He focuses on serving to clients with self-managed distributed coaching and inference at scale on AWS. His expertise contains industrial predictive upkeep, digital twins, probabilistic design optimization and has accomplished his doctoral research from Mechanical Engineering at Rice College and post-doctoral analysis from Massachusetts Institute of Know-how.
Akshit Arora is a senior knowledge scientist at NVIDIA, the place he works on deploying conversational AI fashions on GPUs at scale. He’s a graduate of College of Colorado at Boulder, the place he utilized deep studying to enhance data monitoring on a Ok-12 on-line tutoring platform. His work spans multilingual text-to-speech, time collection classification, ed-tech, and sensible functions of deep studying.
Eliuth Triana Isaza is a Developer Relations Supervisor at NVIDIA empowering Amazon’s AI MLOps, DevOps, Scientists and AWS technical specialists to grasp the NVIDIA computing stack for accelerating and optimizing Generative AI Basis fashions spanning from knowledge curation, GPU coaching, mannequin inference and manufacturing deployment on AWS GPU situations. As well as, Eliuth is a passionate mountain biker, skier, tennis and poker participant.
Wenhan Tan is a Options Architect at Nvidia helping clients to undertake Nvidia AI options at large-scale. His work focuses on accelerating deep studying functions and addressing inference and coaching challenges.