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    FPGA as a Service:Create an f3 instance

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    FPGA as a Service:Create an f3 instance

    Last Updated:Sep 07, 2023

    FPGA-accelerated instances whose instance family is f3 use Xilinx field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). When you create an FPGA-accelerated instance, you can use an image that is pre-installed with the FPGA development environment. This topic describes how to create an f3 instance and the parameters of which you must take note when you create an FPGA-accelerated instance.

    Procedure

    In this example, the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) console is used to create an FPGA-accelerated instance. You can use multiple methods to create an FPGA-accelerated instance. For more information, see Provisioning methods of ECS instances.

    1. Log on to the ECS console.
    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Instances & Images > Instances.

    3. Click Create Instance.

    4. On the Custom Launch tab, configure the parameters.

      The following table describes the parameters. For more information, see Create an instance by using the wizard.

      Section

      Parameter

      Description

      Region

      The region in which the instance is deployed. Instances deployed in different regions cannot communicate with each other. We recommend that you select a region that is close to your business to reduce network latency and improve connection quality.

      FPGA-accelerated instance types are available only in specific regions and zones. For more information, go to the ECS Instance Types Available for Each Region page. For example, on the ECS Instance Types Available for Each Region page, select Subscription from the billing method drop-down list, and enter the keyword of an instance type name in the search box, such as f3. Then, you can view the instance types that are available in specific regions and zones.

      Network and Zone

      • We recommend that you select VPC. Virtual private clouds (VPCs) are logically isolated from each other for higher security.

        Note

        Alibaba Cloud provides a default VPC. If you do not want to use the default VPC, you can create a VPC and a vSwitch in the selected region. For more information, see Create a VPC with an IPv4 CIDR block.

      • A region consists of multiple isolated locations known as zones. Each zone has its own independent power supply and networks. Resources that are deployed within the same zone share the same network and have minimal latency between each other. Therefore, services deployed within the same zone provide faster communication speeds, which translates into more efficient business operations.

      Instances & Images

      Instance

      The type of the instance. Enter the keyword of an instance type name, such as f3, in the search box to the right of Filter Condition to search for the instance type. For example, you can enter ecs.f3-c4f1.xlarge in the search box to search for the ecs.f3-c4f1.xlarge instance type in the China (Shanghai) region.

      Note

      FPGA-accelerated instances belong to GPU-accelerated and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-accelerated instances. The number of resources that you can purchase depends on the instance quota. For more information, see View and increase instance quotas.

      Image

      f3 instances must use an image that is pre-installed with the Xilinx development environment. The image is a Community Image.

      Click the Community Image tab and enter m-uf62gw9ckos5os056xum as the community image ID.

      Important

      You can enter m-uf62gw9ckos5os056xum on the Community Image tab only after you select an f3 instance type in the China (Shanghai) region.

      Storage

      System Disk

      To create an f3 instance, we recommend that you allocate a 200-GiB ultra disk as the system disk. This is because the image pre-installed with the Xilinx development environment occupies some storage space.

      Bandwidths & Security Groups

      Security Group

      A security group is a virtual firewall that is used to control the inbound and outbound traffic of instances in the security group.

      Note

      Alibaba Cloud provides a default security group. If you do not want to use the default security group, you can create a security group in the selected region. For more information, see Create a security group.

      Management

      Key Pair

      To bind an SSH key pair when you create a Linux instance, you must create the SSH key pair in the selected region. For more information, see Create an SSH key pair.

      Advanced Settings (Optional)

      User Data

      To add user data for the instance, you must prepare user data in advance. For more information, see Overview of ECS instance user data.

      Instance RAM Role

      Before you attach a Resource Access Management (RAM) role to an ECS instance, you must create the RAM role and attach policies to the RAM role. For more information, see Attach an instance RAM role to an ECS instance.

    5. Before the instance is created, make sure that all selected settings, such as the usage duration, meet your business requirements.

    6. Read and agree to the ECS Terms of Service and Refund Policies and Procedure by selecting the check box, and click Create Order.

      Note

      You need to read and agree to the Refund Policies and Procedure only if you want to purchase a subscription instance.

      In most cases, it takes 3 to 5 minutes to create an instance. Wait until the instance is created. You can go to the Instances page to check the status of the instance. If the instance enters the Running state, the instance is created.