Nomad for Distributed AI Model Training

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To set up a distributed AI model training system using Nomad, there isn't a direct resource available in Pulumi to create a Nomad cluster. However, you can use Pulumi to create the infrastructure required for a Nomad cluster, such as virtual machines, networks, and security rules. From there, you would install and configure Nomad on those resources using an initialization script or a configuration management tool.

Nomad is a workload orchestrator that allows you to deploy and manage containers and non-containerized applications across on-premises and clouds environments. It's quite flexible and can be used for a variety of tasks, including distributed AI model training, which typically requires significant computing resources across multiple servers.

In the following Pulumi Python program, I'll guide you through the creation of a simple cloud-based infrastructure on AWS that could host a Nomad cluster. The program will set up the necessary networking, security, and compute instances. For the sake of simplicity, this infrastructure will consist of a VPC, a subnet, a security group, and an EC2 instance.

```python
import pulumi
import pulumi_aws as aws

# Create a new VPC for our Nomad Cluster
vpc = aws.ec2.Vpc("nomad-vpc",
    cidr_block="10.0.0.0/16",
    enable_dns_support=True,
    enable_dns_hostnames=True
)

# Create a Subnet within our VPC
subnet = aws.ec2.Subnet("nomad-subnet",
    cidr_block="10.0.1.0/24",
    vpc_id=vpc.id
)

# Security Group to allow inbound SSH and Nomad traffic
nomad_sg = aws.ec2.SecurityGroup("nomad-sg",
    vpc_id=vpc.id,
    description="Allow inbound traffic for SSH and Nomad",
    ingress=[
        aws.ec2.SecurityGroupIngressArgs(
            from_port=22,
            to_port=22,
            protocol="tcp",
            cidr_blocks=["0.0.0.0/0"], # For the purpose of the example. In production restrict this to known IPs.
        ),
        # Nomad servers typically listen on ports 4646, 4647, and 4648.
        aws.ec2.SecurityGroupIngressArgs(
            from_port=4646,
            to_port=4648,
            protocol="tcp",
            cidr_blocks=["10.0.0.0/16"],
        ),
    ],
    egress=[
        aws.ec2.SecurityGroupEgressArgs(
            from_port=0,
            to_port=0,
            protocol="-1", # Allows all outbound traffic
            cidr_blocks=["0.0.0.0/0"],
        )
    ]
)

# Key pair for SSH access (normally you'd import an existing key)
key_pair = aws.ec2.KeyPair("nomad-key",
    public_key="ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1...." # Replace with your public key
)

# Create an EC2 instance to act as the Nomad server
nomad_server = aws.ec2.Instance("nomad-server",
    instance_type="t2.medium", # Adjust size as needed
    ami="ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0", # Update this to your desired AMI
    subnet_id=subnet.id,
    vpc_security_group_ids=[nomad_sg.id],
    key_name=key_pair.key_name,
    user_data="""#!/bin/bash
        sudo apt-get update
        sudo apt-get install -y nomad
        # Further Nomad setup commands go here
    """, # Initialization script to install and configure Nomad
)

# Export the public IP of the Nomad server
pulumi.export('nomad_server_ip', nomad_server.public_ip)
```

Please remember to replace the `"ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1...."` placeholder with your actual public SSH key, and update the AMI id `"ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"` to the AMI that corresponds to your region and requirements, such as an Ubuntu server or other Linux distributions compatible with Nomad.

The `user_data` script provided in the EC2 instance resource is minimal and would need to be enhanced to install Nomad and configure it properly. This is typically done by providing a script that follows the [official Nomad installation instructions](https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/install).

The program sets up a virtual private cloud (VPC) to provide a private network space in AWS, then we create a subnet inside this VPC where our instances will live. A security group is declared to define the firewall rules which allow SSH access and Nomad's required ports for communication. We also generate a key pair for SSH access to the instance. Then, a single EC2 instance is created which acts as a server that could be part of a Nomad cluster, and we provision it with a user data script that installs Nomad at launch time.

Take note that deploying actual Nomad clusters for production use involves setting up multiple server nodes for high availability, configuring data stores, ensuring proper networking between the nodes, and handling dynamic node scaling. This Pulumi program gives you the starting point for the required infrastructure on AWS.

Should you wish to move forward with setting up Nomad for your actual use-case, you would continue by writing more intricate `user_data` scripts or employing additional tools to configure your Nomad cluster appropriately.