OpenStack Cyborg is a project within the OpenStack ecosystem that provides a framework for managing and orchestrating accelerators, such as GPUs, FPGAs, and DPUs (Data Processing Units), in a cloud environment. It aims to make these accelerators available as a service to virtual machines (VMs) and containers running on OpenStack.
One of the key components of OpenStack Cyborg is the Cyborg Conductor. The Cyborg Conductor is responsible for managing and coordinating the lifecycle of accelerators in the system. It acts as the main control plane for Cyborg, handling tasks such as device discovery, device registration, device allocation to instances, and device release.
Here are some key features and responsibilities of the Cyborg Conductor:
- Device Discovery: The Cyborg Conductor detects and discovers the available accelerators in the system. It can detect different types of accelerators, including GPUs, FPGAs, and DPUs, and gather information about their capabilities and resources.
- Device Registration: Once the accelerators are discovered, the Cyborg Conductor registers them with the Cyborg database. This registration process includes collecting information about the device, such as its vendor, model, driver, and supported features.
- Device Allocation: The Cyborg Conductor handles the allocation of accelerators to instances (VMs or containers) based on user requests. It ensures that the requested accelerator is available and compatible with the instance’s requirements before allocating it. The allocation process involves coordinating with the Cyborg database and the compute nodes where the instances are running.
- Device Release: When an instance no longer requires an accelerator, the Cyborg Conductor releases the accelerator, making it available for allocation to other instances. It manages the cleanup and deallocation of resources associated with the accelerator, ensuring efficient resource utilization.
- Accelerator Lifecycle Management: The Cyborg Conductor monitors the state and health of the accelerators in the system. It can handle events such as device failures, removals, or additions, and take appropriate actions, such as reassigning the workload or marking the device as unavailable.
- Policy Enforcement: The Cyborg Conductor enforces policies defined by the system administrator or cloud operator regarding accelerator usage and allocation. It ensures that instances can only access accelerators that they are authorized to use.
- Integration with Nova: The Cyborg Conductor integrates with the OpenStack Nova compute service to enable the scheduling and provisioning of instances with accelerators. It communicates with Nova to retrieve information about instances and coordinate the allocation and release of accelerators.
Overall, the Cyborg Conductor plays a critical role in managing accelerators within an OpenStack cloud environment. It provides a centralized control plane for accelerator resources, enabling efficient sharing and allocation of these resources among instances.