Products · virtual machines

GPU virtual machines: a whole machine, not just a container

Full KVM virtual machines with the GPU passed straight through: your kernel, your drivers, systemd, reboots, even a desktop. Same price sheet as containers — an RTX 4090 VM is still $0.262/hr, billed per second.

Launch a VM Container instances

True isolation

Hardware virtualisation with GPU passthrough (VFIO) — your workload never shares a kernel with anyone.

Root, kernel, all of it

Load kernel modules, run nested Docker, patch drivers, mount FUSE — everything a bare server allows.

Desktop-capable

Optional XFCE + VNC/RDP for interactive creative work on workstation GPUs like the RTX PRO 6000 WS.

Snapshots & images

Snapshot a configured VM into a private image and stamp out copies — golden images for teams.

Container or VM? Thirty-second decision

	Container instance	Virtual machine
Cold start	~30 seconds	2–4 minutes
Kernel control	Host kernel (pinned NVIDIA stack)	Yours — any kernel, any module
Nested Docker	Via template flag	Native
GUI desktop	App-level (ComfyUI, Jupyter)	Full XFCE via VNC/RDP
Price	Same sheet	Same sheet

Rule: start with a container; switch to a VM the first time the container says no.

vm — launch

$ powergpu launch --gpu rtx-4090 --vm ubuntu-24.04 \
    --disk 200 --ports 22,3389
✓ VM i-77e0c9d3 booted (2m41s)
$ ssh root@i-77e0c9d3.powergpu.io
root@i-77e0c9d3:~# uname -r
6.8.0-49-generic   # your kernel, swap it if you like

GPU VMs: FAQ

Boot images and cloud-init details in the instance docs.

How is a VM different from a container instance here?

A VM is a full KVM virtual machine: your own kernel, systemd, root, reboots, custom drivers and GUI sessions. Container instances share the host kernel and start faster (~30 s vs 2–4 min) — use VMs when you need kernel control, a desktop, or software that refuses to live in Docker.

Can I run a graphical desktop?

Yes — the Ubuntu VM image ships with an optional XFCE desktop and self-hosted VNC/RDP over the instance's mapped ports. Studios use it for interactive Blender/DaVinci sessions on workstation cards.

Do VMs cost more than containers?

No — same GPU sheet, same $0.08/GB/mo storage. The only practical difference is the slower start and a slightly larger disk footprint for the OS.

Can I bring my own image?

Cloud-init compatible qcow2 images can be imported from a URL. Snapshots of a running VM export the same way, so migration in and out is symmetric.