Advanced Distributed Training
Master multi-GPU and multi-node training strategies for large-scale deep learning models
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🧮 Distributed Training Calculator
175B parameters
8 GPUs
Training Performance
Strategy:Data Parallelism
Tokens/sec:6,800
Memory per GPU:80GB (100%)
Efficiency:85%
Communication:Model gradients
⚡ Distributed Training Strategies
Data Parallelism
Each GPU has full model copy, processes different data batches
Efficiency:85%
Overhead:Model gradients
Scalability:Good up to 32 GPUs
Model Parallelism
Model split across GPUs, each processes same data
Efficiency:75%
Overhead:Activation tensors
Scalability:Limited by model layers
Pipeline Parallelism
Model layers distributed across GPUs in pipeline stages
Efficiency:80%
Overhead:Pipeline bubbles
Scalability:Good with micro-batching
3D Parallelism
Combines data, model, and pipeline parallelism
Efficiency:90%
Overhead:Optimized hybrid
Scalability:Excellent for large models
🛠️ Implementation Examples
Data Parallel Training with DDP
import torch
import torch.distributed as dist
from torch.nn.parallel import DistributedDataParallel as DDP
from torch.utils.data.distributed import DistributedSampler
def setup_distributed(rank, world_size):
"""Initialize distributed training"""
os.environ['MASTER_ADDR'] = 'localhost'
os.environ['MASTER_PORT'] = '12355'
dist.init_process_group("nccl", rank=rank, world_size=world_size)
def train_distributed(rank, world_size, model, dataset):
setup_distributed(rank, world_size)
# Move model to GPU and wrap with DDP
model = model.to(rank)
model = DDP(model, device_ids=[rank])
# Create distributed sampler
sampler = DistributedSampler(dataset, num_replicas=world_size, rank=rank)
dataloader = DataLoader(dataset, batch_size=32, sampler=sampler)
optimizer = torch.optim.AdamW(model.parameters(), lr=1e-4)
for epoch in range(num_epochs):
sampler.set_epoch(epoch) # Important for shuffling
for batch in dataloader:
inputs, targets = batch
inputs, targets = inputs.to(rank), targets.to(rank)
optimizer.zero_grad()
outputs = model(inputs)
loss = criterion(outputs, targets)
loss.backward()
optimizer.step()
dist.destroy_process_group()
# Launch with torch.multiprocessing
if __name__ == "__main__":
world_size = torch.cuda.device_count()
torch.multiprocessing.spawn(
train_distributed,
args=(world_size, model, dataset),
nprocs=world_size,
join=True
)Model Parallel Training
import torch.nn as nn
from torch.distributed.pipeline.sync import Pipe
class ModelParallelTransformer(nn.Module):
def __init__(self, config):
super().__init__()
# Split layers across devices
devices = [f'cuda:{i}' for i in range(torch.cuda.device_count())]
layers_per_device = config.num_layers // len(devices)
self.layers = nn.ModuleList()
for i, layer in enumerate(self.transformer_layers):
device_idx = i // layers_per_device
device = devices[min(device_idx, len(devices)-1)]
layer.to(device)
self.layers.append(layer)
def forward(self, x):
for i, layer in enumerate(self.layers):
# Move input to layer's device
x = x.to(layer.weight.device)
x = layer(x)
return x
# Pipeline Parallel with automatic balancing
class PipelineParallelModel(nn.Module):
def __init__(self, layers):
super().__init__()
# Automatically partition layers across devices
devices = [f'cuda:{i}' for i in range(torch.cuda.device_count())]
# Use Pipe for automatic pipeline parallelism
self.pipe_model = Pipe(
nn.Sequential(*layers),
balance=[len(layers) // len(devices)] * len(devices),
devices=devices,
chunks=8 # Micro-batch size
)
def forward(self, x):
return self.pipe_model(x)
# Training with pipeline parallelism
model = PipelineParallelModel(transformer_layers)
optimizer = torch.optim.AdamW(model.parameters())
for batch in dataloader:
inputs, targets = batch
# Pipeline automatically handles micro-batching
outputs = model(inputs)
loss = criterion(outputs, targets)
loss.backward()
optimizer.step()
optimizer.zero_grad()3D Parallelism with DeepSpeed
import deepspeed
from deepspeed.pipe import PipelineModule
class Hybrid3DModel(PipelineModule):
def __init__(self, layers, topology):
# topology defines data/model/pipe parallel dimensions
super().__init__(
layers=layers,
topology=topology,
loss_fn=nn.CrossEntropyLoss()
)
# DeepSpeed configuration for 3D parallelism
ds_config = {
"train_batch_size": 512,
"train_micro_batch_size_per_gpu": 4,
"gradient_accumulation_steps": 16,
# ZeRO optimizer state partitioning
"zero_optimization": {
"stage": 3, # Partition optimizer states, gradients, and parameters
"offload_optimizer": {
"device": "cpu", # Offload to CPU memory
"pin_memory": True
},
"offload_param": {
"device": "cpu",
"pin_memory": True
}
},
# Tensor parallelism
"tensor_parallel": {
"tp_size": 4 # 4-way tensor parallelism
},
# Pipeline parallelism
"pipeline": {
"pipe_parallel_size": 8,
"num_stages": 8
},
# Mixed precision training
"fp16": {
"enabled": True,
"loss_scale": 0,
"loss_scale_window": 1000,
"hysteresis": 2,
"min_loss_scale": 1
}
}
# Initialize model with DeepSpeed
model_engine, optimizer, _, _ = deepspeed.initialize(
model=model,
config=ds_config
)
# Training loop with automatic mixed precision and gradient accumulation
for batch in dataloader:
inputs, targets = batch
loss = model_engine(inputs, targets)
model_engine.backward(loss)
model_engine.step()🏭 Real-World Production Examples
O
OpenAI GPT-3
175B parameter training
- Strategy:3D Parallelism
- Compute:10,000 V100 GPUs
- Training Time:34 days
- Framework:Custom PyTorch
G
Google PaLM
540B parameter model
- Strategy:Data + Model Parallel
- Compute:6,144 TPU v4 chips
- Efficiency:57.8% hardware utilization
- Framework:JAX + T5X
M
Meta OPT
175B open-source model
- Strategy:ZeRO + Pipeline
- Compute:992 A100 80GB GPUs
- Training Time:~2 months
- Framework:PyTorch + FairScale
N
NVIDIA Megatron
Tensor parallel framework
- Strategy:Tensor + Pipeline
- Scaling:3,000+ GPUs efficient
- Communication:InfiniBand optimized
- Framework:PyTorch + Apex
✅ Best Practices & Optimization
✅ Do's
- Profile communication bottlenecks - Use tools like NCCL tests and nvprof to identify slow allreduce operations
- Optimize batch sizes per GPU - Find the sweet spot between memory usage and computational efficiency
- Use gradient accumulation - Simulate larger batch sizes when memory is limited
- Implement checkpointing - Save intermediate states for fault tolerance in long training runs
- Monitor GPU utilization - Aim for >90% utilization across all devices
❌ Don'ts
- Don't ignore data loading - I/O bottlenecks can severely impact training throughput
- Avoid unbalanced workloads - Ensure even distribution of computation across GPUs
- Don't mix precision carelessly - Mixed precision requires careful loss scaling
- Avoid synchronous debugging - Use async logging to prevent blocking training
- Don't neglect network topology - GPU placement affects communication efficiency
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