How to speed up machine learning on GPU - a new open source platform is introduced
Nvidia presented the open source platform Rapids, whose task is to speed up the work of machine learning algorithms on the GPU. We talk about the features of the instrument and its analogues.
/ photo by Martin Brigden CC
Nvidia’s technology list has a parallel computing architecture called CUDA. Its goal is to speed up computations by transferring some GPU tasks instead of CPUs. In some cases, this allows you to speed up the work of applications and algorithms by 18 times.
For this reason, it has found wide application in the field of machine learning. For example, researchers from universities in Florida and North Carolina are developing with it the neural network engine for quantum simulations.
A large number of different libraries are used to develop MO algorithms. Many of them are written in Python. But not all of them support working with CUDA. An example of such tools is the scikit-learn and pandas Python libraries for machine learning. To run Python code in the CUDA architecture, researchers use separate Numba or PyCUDA libraries. In this case, the code of some components must be rewritten manually, which is difficult, since you need to know the programming features for the GPU.
In order to automate code migration, Nvidia has introduced a new open platform, Rapids. Developers do not need to resort to different libraries: they simply write code in Python, and Rapids automatically optimizes it to run on the GPU.
To compare processes, Rapids uses a common database that resides in the memory of the GPU. Data is stored in the Apache Arrow format , uniform for all platform tools. This solution helps speed up the machine learning process 50 times compared to systems that use both graphics and central processing units.
At the same time, tools are available on the Rapids platform that can be used to conduct the entire process of working with neural networks on the graphics chip: from data preparation to outputting the result.
The number of solutions in the GitHub Rapids repository is actively growing. For example, there is a cuDF library for data preparation and neural network training, and the cuML library allows you to develop machine learning algorithms without going into details of programming for CUDA.
Nvidia will continue to develop the platform. The creators of the project plan to add tools for data visualization, graph analysis and deep learning to Rapids. The program also integrates the Apache Spark framework.
In the technology community, the Rapids release was supported, but its further development caused several questions from experts and users.
For example, managers of Cisco, Dell, NetApp, Lenovo and other companies expressed support for the new solution. Anaconda CEO Scott Collison (Scott Collison) said that Rapids will simplify the collection and preparation of data for training complex AI systems. The creator of Apache Arrow and pandas Wes McKinney (Wes McKinney) agrees. According to him, Rapids will lead to an increase in productivity in tasks associated with the creation of features ( feature engineering ).
/ photo Sander van der Wel CC
However, the community also has an opinionthat Rapids cannot be considered a truly open source project. The system only works with Nvidia cards, and the release of the platform can be a marketing ploy to attract new customers. The company has not yet specified whether the platform will work with devices from other manufacturers.
IBM plans to introduce the platform into services for working with artificial intelligence systems: PowerAI, Watson and IBM Cloud. Support for Rapids has also been announced by Oracle - the platform is available on the Oracle Cloud infrastructure.
The new product Nvidia also tested Walmart and Uber. First Rapids helped improve the algorithms of the system responsible for inventory management. According to representatives of the retailer, Rapids accelerated the scan of machine learning algorithms. As for Uber, the company uses the Rapids in the development of unmanned vehicle systems.
Not only Nvidia is developing a platform to accelerate MO. For example, AMD is engaged in a project ROCm (Radeon Open Compute). This is an open platform for high performance GPU computing.
The peculiarity of ROCm is that it does not depend on the programming language and is able to work with almost any video card. Including cards Nvidia. To do this, use a special C ++ dialect called HIP. It simplifies the conversion of CUDA applications into portable C ++ code. The code is converted automatically by a special system Hipify.
At the same time, ROCm supports a large number of Math Acceleration Libraries libraries. Among them are the BLAS, FFT and the convolution of the tensor .
IT industry experts point out that open source solutions for accelerating heterogeneous and GPU computing, like ROCm and Rapids, allow developers to more efficiently use computing resources and get more performance from the available hardware.
PS Several materials from the First Corporate IaaS Blog:
PPS IaaS Technology at a Glance - in our Telegram channel :
/ photo by Martin Brigden CC
The problem of learning neural networks
Nvidia’s technology list has a parallel computing architecture called CUDA. Its goal is to speed up computations by transferring some GPU tasks instead of CPUs. In some cases, this allows you to speed up the work of applications and algorithms by 18 times.
For this reason, it has found wide application in the field of machine learning. For example, researchers from universities in Florida and North Carolina are developing with it the neural network engine for quantum simulations.
A large number of different libraries are used to develop MO algorithms. Many of them are written in Python. But not all of them support working with CUDA. An example of such tools is the scikit-learn and pandas Python libraries for machine learning. To run Python code in the CUDA architecture, researchers use separate Numba or PyCUDA libraries. In this case, the code of some components must be rewritten manually, which is difficult, since you need to know the programming features for the GPU.
Nvidia Solution
In order to automate code migration, Nvidia has introduced a new open platform, Rapids. Developers do not need to resort to different libraries: they simply write code in Python, and Rapids automatically optimizes it to run on the GPU.
To compare processes, Rapids uses a common database that resides in the memory of the GPU. Data is stored in the Apache Arrow format , uniform for all platform tools. This solution helps speed up the machine learning process 50 times compared to systems that use both graphics and central processing units.
At the same time, tools are available on the Rapids platform that can be used to conduct the entire process of working with neural networks on the graphics chip: from data preparation to outputting the result.
The number of solutions in the GitHub Rapids repository is actively growing. For example, there is a cuDF library for data preparation and neural network training, and the cuML library allows you to develop machine learning algorithms without going into details of programming for CUDA.
Nvidia will continue to develop the platform. The creators of the project plan to add tools for data visualization, graph analysis and deep learning to Rapids. The program also integrates the Apache Spark framework.
What do they think about the platform
In the technology community, the Rapids release was supported, but its further development caused several questions from experts and users.
For example, managers of Cisco, Dell, NetApp, Lenovo and other companies expressed support for the new solution. Anaconda CEO Scott Collison (Scott Collison) said that Rapids will simplify the collection and preparation of data for training complex AI systems. The creator of Apache Arrow and pandas Wes McKinney (Wes McKinney) agrees. According to him, Rapids will lead to an increase in productivity in tasks associated with the creation of features ( feature engineering ).
/ photo Sander van der Wel CC
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However, the community also has an opinionthat Rapids cannot be considered a truly open source project. The system only works with Nvidia cards, and the release of the platform can be a marketing ploy to attract new customers. The company has not yet specified whether the platform will work with devices from other manufacturers.
Who already uses rapids
IBM plans to introduce the platform into services for working with artificial intelligence systems: PowerAI, Watson and IBM Cloud. Support for Rapids has also been announced by Oracle - the platform is available on the Oracle Cloud infrastructure.
The new product Nvidia also tested Walmart and Uber. First Rapids helped improve the algorithms of the system responsible for inventory management. According to representatives of the retailer, Rapids accelerated the scan of machine learning algorithms. As for Uber, the company uses the Rapids in the development of unmanned vehicle systems.
Alternative solution
Not only Nvidia is developing a platform to accelerate MO. For example, AMD is engaged in a project ROCm (Radeon Open Compute). This is an open platform for high performance GPU computing.
The peculiarity of ROCm is that it does not depend on the programming language and is able to work with almost any video card. Including cards Nvidia. To do this, use a special C ++ dialect called HIP. It simplifies the conversion of CUDA applications into portable C ++ code. The code is converted automatically by a special system Hipify.
At the same time, ROCm supports a large number of Math Acceleration Libraries libraries. Among them are the BLAS, FFT and the convolution of the tensor .
IT industry experts point out that open source solutions for accelerating heterogeneous and GPU computing, like ROCm and Rapids, allow developers to more efficiently use computing resources and get more performance from the available hardware.
PS Several materials from the First Corporate IaaS Blog:
- How IaaS helps grow your business: three tasks that the cloud will solve
- GDPR effect: how the new regulation has affected the IT ecosystem
- "How are VMware?": A review of new solutions
PPS IaaS Technology at a Glance - in our Telegram channel :
- NetApp from A to Z: a review of vendor technologies
- Why a good IaaS-provider does not build its data center
- What else VMware has: virtualization tools