**Foreword**
The Alibaba Cloud Virtualization Team, specializing in Heterogeneous Computing and High-Performance Computing (HPC), has been focused on the "popularization" of computing resources. The concept of "civilianization" was first introduced by He Wanqing from the HPC team. E-HPC aims to provide all cloud users with instant access to a small supercomputing cluster, making high-performance computing accessible to everyone—not just limited to supercomputing centers or universities.
Our heterogeneous computing team is dedicated to delivering the latest and fastest computing devices to users on the cloud. Previously, we launched the GPU cloud server, EGS. About six months ago, we officially introduced the FPGA cloud server, FaaS. After internal testing and a public beta phase, it's now fully available. Users simply need to apply for a whitelist to use FPGA resources just like they would with an ECS virtual machine.
**FaaS Introduction**
FaaS stands for FPGA as a Service, a way to utilize FPGAs in the cloud. Currently, we support two different examples:
| Example Model | FPGA Model |
|---------------|------------------|
| F1 | Intel A10 |
| F2 | Xilinx KU115 |
**From Entry to Deployment**
**New Sub-Account (Optional)**
It’s recommended that users create a new sub-account to manage their Alibaba Cloud resources. This ensures better security by granting only necessary permissions to the sub-account.
1. Log in to the **Ali Cloud RAM Console**.
2. Select **[User Management] > [New User]** on the left sidebar.
3. Fill in the user details: username, display name, email, phone number, etc. Make sure to **select "Automatically Generate AccessKey"** for this user and click **OK**.
4. Save the **AccessKey (AK)** and **AccessKey Secret (AS)** in the pop-up window. You will need these for future operations.
5. Now, you have created a RAM sub-account. Next, authorize it.
6. In the RAM console, go to **[User Management]** and find the newly created sub-account. Click **[Authorize]**.
7. Grant at least the following permissions: **AliyunOSSFullAccess**, **AliyunECSFullAccess**, **AliyunRAMFullAccess**, and **AliyunSTSAssumeRoleAccess**. Click **OK** after selecting.
**Open OSS and Create a Dedicated Bucket**
FaaS-related operations depend on Alibaba Cloud OSS storage. Therefore, users must activate OSS services. It’s also advisable to create a new bucket specifically for FaaS to store your FPGA images and intermediate results.
**Open OSS (if not already open):**
1. Log in to the **OSS Sales Page** and click to activate immediately.
**Create a New Bucket in East China 1:**
1. Log in to the **OSS Management Console**.
2. Click the **"+"** sign at the top-left to create a new bucket.
3. Name the bucket, select **East China 1** as the region, and click **OK**.
4. Confirm the bucket appears on the left side of the console.
**Budget Considerations**
For users with tight budgets, it's cost-effective to use standard ECS instances during the debugging and compilation phases. It's recommended to use a computational instance with more than 4 cores. Once the code is ready, you can then switch to the F2 instance for actual FPGA deployment.
**Purchase Process:**
1. The F2 instance currently requires a whitelist. Submit a ticket (or contact Alibaba Cloud BD) to request access using your Alibaba Cloud account.
2. After the whitelist is enabled, purchase the F2 instance directly on the **Alibaba Cloud official website**. Choose **East China 1**, **Availability Zone B**, and **VPC network**. F2 supports both **pay-per-use** and **annual subscription** options. Select **Heterogeneous Computing** and **FPGA Compute Type**.
3. We’ve prepared a pre-configured image for the Xilinx development environment. Users can launch an instance using this image. The image is available for free in the **Mirror Market** and can only be accessed via shared image. When choosing the image, make sure to select **Shared Image**. If you don’t see it, submit a ticket or contact Alibaba Cloud BD.
**F2 Instance OpenCL Development Best Practices**
Here, we demonstrate a common example of compiling and simulating, using the F2 instance as the final run. However, compilation and simulation can also be done directly on the F2 instance, which simplifies the process.
For volume users, it’s recommended to use a cheaper standard ECS instance (preferably with 4 or more cores) for compilation and simulation. At this stage, you don’t need to use the FPGA. Just choose a different instance type but still use our shared image.
**Steps:**
1. Configure the SDx environment: `source /opt/Xilinx/SDx/2017.2/settings64.sh`
2. Run SDx with demo: `cd /opt/Xilinx/SDx/2017.2/examples/vadd`
3. Check the platform in `sdaccel.mk` (line 60): `XDEVICE=xilinx_kcu1500_4ddr-xpr_4_0`
4. Modify `common.mk`: `CLCC_OPT += $(CLCC_OPT_LEVEL) ${DEVICE_REPO_OPT} --platform ${XDEVICE} -o ${XCLBIN} ${KERNEL_DEFS} ${KERNEL_INCS} --xp param:compiler.acceleratorBinaryContent=dcp`
5. Software simulation: `make -f sdaccel.mk run_cpu_em`
6. Check if the result is `PASSED`.
**Hardware Emulation:**
- Set `export XCL_EMULATION_MODE=true`
- Run: `./vadd bin_vadd_cpu_emu.xclbin`
**Compilation:**
- `make -f sdaccel.mk cleanall`
- `make -f sdaccel.mk xbin_hw`
**Note:** Compilation may take several hours. To prevent SSH timeout, use `screen` or `nohup`.
**Secure Burning Environment Setup:**
1. Source the setup script: `source /root/xbinst_oem/F2_env_setup.sh`
2. Configure with your access ID and key: `faascmd config --id= --key=`
3. Authorize with your OSS bucket: `faascmd auth --bucket=`
**After Successful Compilation:**
1. Package the file:
`wget http://fpga-tools.oss-cn-shanghai.aliyuncs.com/sdaccel_package.sh`
`sh sdaccel_package.sh -xclbin=/opt/Xilinx/SDx/2017.2/examples/vadd/bin_vadd_cpu_emu.xclbin`
2. Upload the package to your OSS bucket:
`faascmd upload_object --object=
--file=`
3. Create a new FPGA image:
`faascmd create_image --object= --fpgatype=xilinx --name=hereIsFPGAImageName --tags=hereIsFPGAImageTag --encrypted=false --shell=V1.0`
4. Verify the image is available:
Check the status and note the **FPGAIamgeUUID** for later use.
**Download and Run:**
1. Configure the secure environment again:
`source /root/xbinst_oem/F2_env_setup.sh`
`faascmd config --id= --key=`
`faascmd auth --bucket=`
2. Get the FPGAUUID:
`faascmd list_instances --instanceId=hereIsYourInstanceId`
3. Download the FPGA image:
`faascmd download_image --instanceId=hereIsYourInstanceId --fpgauuid=hereIsFpgaUUID --fpgatype=xilinx --imageuuid=hereIsImageUUID --imagetype=afu --shell=V1.0`
4. Check the download status:
`faascmd fpga_status --fpgauuid=hereIsFpgaUUID --instanceId=hereIsYourInstanceId`
5. Run the host program:
`make -f sdaccel.mk host`
`unset XILINX_SDX`
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