gustavogaspar/tensorandarmonoci

Using Tensorflow with ARM on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

This is a quick guide on how I managed to use tensorflow with an ARM based CPU. For this guide I'll be using Oracle's Ampere Altra shapes, that not only has very good specs (Ampere Altra Datasheet), but are also available at Oracle's Free Tier offering.

The Idea here is not just being a "how-to" but also being a CPU performance comparison between ARM and x86 CPU.

Lab specs:

1. Arm VM:

   • Shape: VM.Standard.A1.Flex;
   • OCPU: 2 (Ampere Altra 3.0Ghz - Neoverse);
   • Memory: 8GB;
   • Disk: 50GB with the performance set to balanced, autotune disabled;
   • OS: Oracle Linux 8.0 (but you are free to choose the one that suites you best, just keep in mind to use the same OS on both VMs).

2. x86 VM:

   • Shape: VM.Standard.E3.Flex;
   • OCPU: 2 (AMD Epyc 7742 2.25Ghz);
   • Memory: 8GB;
   • Disk: 50GB with the performance set to balanced, also no autotune;
   • OS: Oracle Linux 8.0 .

Steps:

1. Setting up the environment
2. Tensorflow/Python installation
3. About the ML Model
4. CPU Comparison

Hope you enjoy :)