Linode GPU Performance and Pricing/Billing Questions?!
Hi, I am a graphic design artist and I would love to use Linode GPU servers as a cloud render farm for Houdini and Blender, but I am just wondering about a few things just due to the high price of this Linode ($1000/month starting price).
I am looking to use it as a remote render farm but also as a Remote Desktop to directly interact with blender, houdini, z-brush, and resolve. (I would be connecting through (VNC/RDP like tools) Duet, Jump, Parsec, and RainWay)
Q.1 Are you charged while the machine is turned off?
Q.2 How is storage charged and billed? (Are you charged per GB per month or GB used per month but only while machine is active)
Q.3 Is it possible to upload my own VMDK, IMG, or ISO so I can have all my software bundled and ready to go?
Q.4 How powerful is the (RTX6000) and what are its features/downsides (By features and downsides I am asking people who have used it before, how is the Remote Desktop experience, has anyone else used it to as a cloud render server and If they have any experience or any feedback to share)? Compared to say a (Tesla V100) from GCP, a (Tesla M60) from Azure, a (Quadro P5000 or a P6000) from PaperSpace
1 Reply
rgerke
Linode Staff
Hey there -
I'm with the Linode Support team, so I wanted to jump in and answer as many of the questions as I could. Some of them (like Question 4) I'm going to leave to the rest of the Community because they'll have more experience with it than I, and will able to give you a better answer.
Q.1 Are you charged while the machine is turned off?
Yes. Since we reserve the resources and your data for you when the Linode (including a GPU) is powered down, you'll still be charged for it. Here's a link to our doc that explains it:
If My Linode is Powered Off, Will I Be Billed?
Q.2 How is storage charged and billed? (Are you charged per GB per month or GB used per month but only while machine is active)
The storage that's included in the plan isn't billed separately from the Linode. You're allotted a certain amount of storage space and the billing doesn't change based on how much of it you're actually using. That space is reserved for you when you purchase the plan, so it will be available to you when you need it.
The simplest way to look at the billing is that it doesn't change based on your use of the resources that are allotted to it (with the exception of transfer overages).
Q.3 Is it possible to upload my own VMDK, IMG, or ISO so I can have all my software bundled and ready to go?
You should be able to do this by following this guide:
Install a Custom Distribution on a Linode
Q.4 How powerful is the (RTX6000) and what are its features/downsides (By features and downsides I am asking people who have used it before, how is the Remote Desktop experience, has anyone else used it to as a cloud render server and If they have any experience or any feedback to share)? Compared to say a (Tesla V100) from GCP, a (Tesla M60) from Azure, a (Quadro P5000 or a P6000) from PaperSpace
I am not the best person to answer this, since I don't have the experience with a lot of what you've mentioned. I'm going to leave this to the Community, as I mentioned above, and add some tags to this post to increase its visibility for you.