Azure Data Scientists Associate Practice Exam

Which VM series should be selected for a compute environment needing support for CUDA?

1. DSv2 series

2. F-series

3. NCv2 series

4. DAv2 series

The correct answer is: NCv2 series

The NCv2 series is specifically designed to support NVIDIA's CUDA, a parallel computing platform and application programming interface model that leverages the capabilities of GPUs for high-performance computing tasks. This series utilizes NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, which are optimized for workloads that require intensive computation, such as deep learning, data analysis, and other scenarios where massive parallel processing power is beneficial. The design focus of the NCv2 series makes it especially suitable for tasks that require GPU acceleration, aligning with the needs of machine learning, data processing, or any other application that can benefit from the computational power of CUDA-enabled platforms. The other VM series mentioned, while they may provide significant CPU resources, do not include the necessary GPU hardware that supports CUDA programming, thus making them less suitable for compute environments that require this specific capability.