Intermediate · Systems
Host
Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.
TL;DR. The part of a machine learning system, often a CPU, that manages training on accelerators like GPUs.
Technical Definition
The part of a machine learning system, often a CPU, that manages training on accelerators like GPUs.
How it works
In distributed or accelerated machine learning, the 'host' refers to the main computational unit, typically a CPU, that orchestrates the training process. It controls the overall code execution, manages data input pipelines, and directs the actions of accelerator devices like GPUs or TPUs, which perform the heavy tensor computations.
Related Concepts
- Distributed Training — Training a model across multiple machines or accelerators in parallel.
- GPU — Graphics Processing Unit — a massively parallel processor that powers most modern AI workloads.
- CPU — Central Processing Unit — the general-purpose chip that runs most software.