Investing in a high-performance array of GPUs for duties like AI mannequin coaching generally is a vital expense. However what occurs as soon as the duty is full? For those who’re left questioning learn how to benefit from your pricey {hardware}, you are not alone.
Many companies face this quandary. Some buy GPUs for one-off tasks, comparable to coaching machine studying fashions, solely to seek out they not want the gear afterward. Others could select to improve to newer, extra highly effective GPUs – particularly as corporations like Nvidia ceaselessly launch superior fashions – and must discover a objective for his or her older gadgets.
The excellent news? There are many sensible and cost-effective methods to repurpose knowledge heart GPUs. Under, we discover a number of choices to offer GPU {hardware} a second life.
1. Resell Information Middle GPUs
Probably the most apparent methods to dump GPUs you not want is to resell them.
Due to the excessive price of latest GPUs, a thriving secondhand marketplace for these gadgets has emerged. Companies can select to resell their GPUs wholesale to a different firm searching for a big amount of GPU {hardware}. Alternatively, GPUs could be bought individually, which can require extra effort however might end in increased total returns.
The resale worth of GPUs can range broadly based mostly on components comparable to the precise GPU mannequin, its situation, and the present demand for knowledge center-grade GPUs. Nonetheless, as a common rule, count on to get better about 60% to 80% of the unique buy value.
2. Construct and Promote GPU Servers
As a substitute of promoting particular person GPUs, contemplate bundling them into full, GPU-enabled servers and promoting them as turnkey choices. This strategy is especially efficient in case you’re trying to offload whole GPU servers reasonably than simply the GPUs themselves.
Promoting GPUs as a part of assembled servers could make the {hardware} extra interesting to patrons, because it simplifies setup and permits them to get up and running shortly. This technique not solely provides worth to the {hardware} but additionally will increase the probability of discovering patrons preferring ready-to-use options.
3. Use GPUs for AI Inference
In case your GPUs have been bought for a non-persistent use case like AI mannequin coaching, you possibly can repurpose them for inference – the method the place a educated mannequin reacts to new knowledge to generate unique output. Not like coaching, inference is usually an ongoing requirement, making it a wonderful strategy to derive long-term worth out of your GPUs.
4. Reuse GPUs for Cryptocurrency Mining
The identical highly effective computational capabilities that make GPUs ultimate for AI-related duties additionally make them well-suited for cryptocurrency mining. Whereas many cryptocurrency miners have shifted their focus towards AI workloads lately, cryptocurrency mining can nonetheless be a viable strategy to generate income from unused GPUs.
5. Host GPUs-as-a-Service
One other progressive strategy to repurpose your GPUs is by reworking them right into a revenue-generating enterprise by means of a GPU-as-a-Service mannequin.
GPU-as-a-Service lets you provide entry to GPU-enabled knowledge heart servers to distant prospects on an Infrastructure-as-a-Service foundation. With the surging demand for GPU {hardware} and the excessive price of buying GPUs outright, offering non permanent, on-demand entry to GPUs generally is a profitable alternative.
Nonetheless, establishing and managing a cloud service is a fancy endeavor. It requires sturdy infrastructure, technical experience, and ongoing upkeep. That stated, for organizations already working within the non-public cloud or managed providers house, including GPUaaS to their portfolio generally is a pure and worthwhile extension of their current choices.
Maximizing Your GPU {Hardware} Funding
As a substitute of letting costly GPU {hardware} sit idle or develop into out of date, organizations have varied pathways to extract continued worth from their investments. Whether or not by means of direct resale, repurposing for ongoing workload like inference and mining, or reworking them into service-based income streams, these methods may help get better parts of the unique funding whereas addressing actual market wants.
