Create a Virtual GPU cluster

Virtual GPU clusters provide GPU computing resources through virtualization, offering flexibility in configuration and resource allocation. Each cluster consists of one or more virtual machines with dedicated GPU access. Virtual GPU is one of the GPU cluster types available in GPU Cloud, alongside Bare Metal and Spot options.

Virtual GPU Clusters page with cluster list and Create Cluster button

Cluster architecture

Each Virtual GPU cluster consists of one or more virtual machine nodes. All nodes are created from an identical template (image, network settings, disk configuration). After creation, individual nodes can have their disk and network configurations modified independently. For flavors with InfiniBand support, high-speed inter-node networking is configured automatically. This enables efficient distributed training across multiple nodes without manual network configuration. Each node has:

A network boot disk (required). At least one network disk is required as the boot volume for the operating system.
A local data disk added by default. This non-replicated disk is dedicated to temporary storage.
Optional network data disks that can be attached during creation or added later. Network disks persist independently of node state.
Optional file share integration for shared storage across instances.

WarningThe local data disk is a non-replicated volume that comes with every Virtual GPU instance. This disk:

Cannot be modified, detached, or used as a boot volume
Is strictly bound to the specific virtual machine and its configuration
Is wiped when the node is reconfigured, powered off (shelved), or deleted

Use this disk only for temporary data. Store all important data on network disks or NFS storage to prevent data loss.

Create a Virtual GPU cluster

To create a cluster:

Open the Gcore Customer Portal and go to GPU Cloud.
Select Sines-3 region.
Navigate to GPU Clusters > Virtual GPU Clusters.
Click Create Cluster.

Step 1. Configure cluster capacity

Cluster capacity determines the hardware specifications for each node in the cluster.

Select the GPU Model. Available models depend on the region.
Enable or disable Show out of stock to filter available flavors.
Select a flavor. Each flavor card displays GPU configuration, vCPU count, RAM capacity, and pricing.

Cluster capacity section with GPU cluster type selection and available flavors

Step 2. Set the number of instances

In the Number of Instances section, specify how many virtual machines to provision in the cluster. Each instance is a separate virtual machine with the selected flavor configuration. When created, all instances have identical configurations. The minimum is 1 instance, maximum depends on regional availability.

Step 3. Select image

The image defines the operating system and pre-installed software for cluster nodes. In the Image section, choose the operating system:

Public: Pre-configured images with NVIDIA drivers and CUDA toolkit
Custom: Custom images uploaded to the account

The default Ubuntu images include pre-installed NVIDIA drivers and CUDA toolkit. Images with the eni suffix are configured for InfiniBand interconnect.

Image section with Public and Custom tabs and Ubuntu image dropdown

Step 4. Configure volumes

Each Virtual GPU cluster instance has the following storage:

System volume (required): The boot volume for the operating system. This network disk persists across power cycles.
Local volume: Added automatically to every instance. This non-replicated disk is dedicated to temporary storage only. It cannot be edited, removed, or used as a boot volume. Data on this disk is deleted when the instance is shelved, reconfigured, or deleted.
Additional network volumes (optional): Additional persistent storage that survives power cycles.

Volumes section with System and Local volumes configuration

Configure the System volume:

Name: Enter a name for the volume
Size: Minimum size depends on the selected image (default: 120 GiB)
Type: Select from available storage types in the region

To add additional storage, click Add Volume and configure the name, size, and type for each volume. All configured volumes are attached to every instance in the cluster.

WarningStore important data on network volumes or file shares, not on the local volume. The local volume is wiped when the instance is shelved, reconfigured, or deleted, resulting in permanent data loss.

After cluster creation, network volumes can be managed individually per instance. The File share integration section enables connecting a shared file system accessible across all instances in the cluster. Enabling file share integration is recommended for workflows that require shared data access, such as distributed training or shared datasets. To enable file share integration:

Enable the File Share integration toggle.
Select an existing file share or create a new one.

File share integration section with toggle and file share selector

Step 6. Configure network settings

Network settings define how the cluster communicates with external services and other resources based on the network architecture. At least one interface is required.

InfoVirtual GPU clusters support a maximum of 3 network interfaces (Public and Private combined) per instance. If file share integration is enabled, the limit is reduced to 2 interfaces, because one interface is reserved for NFS connectivity.InfiniBand interfaces are not counted toward this limit; they are configured automatically based on the selected flavor.

In the Network settings section, select an interface type:

Type	Access	Use case
Public	Direct internet access with dynamic public IP	Development, testing, quick access to cluster
Private	Internal network only, no external access	Production workloads, security-sensitive environments
Dedicated public	Reserved static public IP	Production APIs, services requiring stable endpoints

To add additional interfaces, click Add Interface.

Network settings section with Public and Private interfaces configured

Step 7. Configure firewall settings

The Firewall settings section applies firewall rules to control inbound and outbound traffic for cluster instances.

In the Firewall settings section, select one or more firewalls from the dropdown.
To add more firewalls, click Add Firewall.

A default firewall is pre-selected and can be replaced with different firewalls as needed.

Step 8. Configure SSH key

In the SSH key section, select an existing key from the dropdown or create a new one. Keys can be uploaded or generated directly in the portal. If generating a new key pair, save the private key immediately as it cannot be retrieved later.

Step 9. Set additional options

The Additional options section provides optional settings: user data scripts for automated configuration and metadata tags for resource organization.

Additional options section with User data and Add tags toggles

Step 10. Name and create the cluster

The final step assigns a name to the cluster and initiates provisioning.

In the GPU Cluster Name section, enter a name or use the auto-generated one.
Review the Estimated cost panel on the right.
Click Create Cluster.

Once all instances reach Power on status, the cluster is ready for use.

WarningCluster-level settings (image, default networks) cannot be changed after creation. New nodes added via scaling inherit the original configuration. To change these settings, create a new cluster.

Connect to the cluster

After the cluster is created, connect to a node via SSH and verify that GPUs are available.

Open a terminal and connect using the default username ubuntu:
```
ssh ubuntu@<node-ip-address>
```
Replace <node-ip-address> with the public or floating IP shown in the cluster details.
Verify that GPUs are detected:
```
nvidia-smi
```
A successful output shows the list of available GPUs, driver version, and CUDA version. If the command fails or no GPUs appear, the image may be missing the correct drivers.

For nodes with only private interfaces, connect through a bastion host or VPN, or use the Gcore Customer Portal console. Clusters can also be created programmatically using the GPU Virtual API.

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Create a Virtual GPU cluster

Cluster architecture