Revolutionizing ML Workloads: Harnessing Amazon ECS with Containers and Trainium Instances

Introduction

As the demand for machine learning (ML) applications grows rapidly, the use of containers for running ML workloads has become popular among developers and IT professionals. Containers provide portability, scalability, and ease of deployment, making the development process smooth and efficient. In this context, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced the Amazon EC2 Trn1 instances powered by AWS Trainium and AWS Neuron SDK. This article explores how to revolutionize ML workloads by harnessing Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) using Trn1 instances and containers.

Solution Overview

The process of integrating ML workloads with ECS and Trn1 instances can be broken down into four main steps:

1. Provision an ECS cluster of Trn1 instances with AWS CloudFormation
2. Build a custom container image with the Neuron SDK and push it to Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR)
3. Create a task definition to define an ML training job to be run by Amazon ECS
4. Run the ML task on Amazon ECS

Prerequisites

To follow the steps mentioned in this article, a basic understanding of core AWS services such as Amazon EC2 and Amazon ECS is required.

Provision an ECS Cluster of Trn1 Instances

To provision the necessary resources for running ML workloads, you can leverage AWS CloudFormation, which allows you to define and launch multiple AWS resources by using pre-built templates. By using CloudFormation templates, you can automate provisioning of Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), ECS cluster and EC2 Trainium instances.

The Neuron SDK plays a pivotal role in executing deep learning workloads on AWS Inferentia and Trainium-based instances as it provides the necessary tools and libraries to simplify the deployment of ML models on these instances.

Build a Custom Container Image and Push to Amazon ECR

Installing the Neuron SDK on EC2 instances is essential for leveraging the full power of Trainium for ML workloads. In addition, Docker images need to be pushed to Amazon ECR to facilitate managed deployments.

When it comes to the container image, there are two options to choose from – building a custom container image with the Neuron SDK pre-installed on either standard Amazon Linux 2 or Ubuntu 20. This flexibility allows you to tailor the container image to your specific needs and infrastructure requirements.

Create a Task Definition for ML Training Job

Defining an ML training job is a crucial aspect of using Amazon ECS, as it forms the basis for container orchestration and management. A task definition is a blueprint that describes the container(s) and the resources required to run an ML model. This includes specifications such as CPU and memory requirements, container image location, and networking configurations.

Run the ML Task on Amazon ECS

With the necessary resources and configurations in place, executing the ML task using Amazon ECS becomes a simple and straightforward process. By leveraging ECS, developers can benefit from the service’s ease of use, scalability, and cost-effectiveness in running ML workloads, ultimately improving operational efficiency and reducing the time to market for ML applications.