Exla FLOPs

About Exla FLOPs

Exla FLOPs is a cloud-based AI infrastructure platform offering instant access to large GPU clusters, including configurations of 64, 128, or more GPUs without waitlists or long-term commitments. It focuses on providing affordable access to high-performance H100 GPUs, catering to developers and researchers who require substantial computational power on demand.

Review

Exla FLOPs aims to simplify the process of scaling AI training workloads by providing flexible, on-demand GPU clusters at competitive prices. Its approach of offering bare metal nodes with direct SSH access gives users full control over their setups, making it a versatile option for various AI development needs. This service addresses a common bottleneck in AI projects related to GPU availability and cost.

Key Features

• Instant provisioning of large GPU clusters with configurations from 64 to 128+ GPUs.
• Access to some of the lowest-priced H100 GPUs available on the market.
• Direct SSH access to bare metal nodes, allowing users to run their own schedulers and orchestration tools.
• Fast local NVMe storage on each node for high-speed input/output operations.
• Dynamic sourcing of GPU capacity across multiple providers to ensure availability even during chip shortages.

Pricing and Value

Exla FLOPs offers pricing that stands out for providing some of the cheapest access to H100 GPUs compared to traditional cloud providers. The lack of long-term commitments allows users to spin up clusters only when needed, which is cost-effective for short-term or burst workloads. While exact pricing details are not publicly listed, the platform’s value proposition lies in balancing affordability with high availability for demanding AI training tasks.

Pros

• Flexible and instant access to large-scale GPU clusters without waitlists.
• Competitive pricing for high-end GPUs, making it accessible for smaller teams or projects.
• Full control over the cluster environment via SSH access to bare metal nodes.
• Supports integration with user-preferred orchestration and checkpointing tools.
• Dynamic GPU sourcing helps mitigate common supply shortages.

Cons

• No built-in job recovery or automatic failure handling; users must implement their own mechanisms.
• Persistent and shared storage options are limited, relying on external storage solutions.
• Less managed compared to some cloud providers, which may increase setup complexity for some users.

Exla FLOPs is well suited for AI developers and research teams who need rapid, scalable access to high-performance GPUs without the overhead of long-term contracts. It is particularly valuable for those comfortable managing their own cluster orchestration and checkpointing, and who prioritize cost efficiency when running large-scale training jobs.