Data Science Virtual Machine

Last update: June 04 2026

Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM) is a preconfigured cloud server with an operating system and pre-installed tools for machine learning (ML) developers and data analysts.

The image from which the server is deployed contains:

• pre-installed tools;

• drivers required for working with graphics processors (GPU).

Before creating a server, read the software license agreements included in the image.

Pre-installed tools

• Python (version 3.10);
• pip;
• PyTorch;
• TensorFlow;
• JupyterLab;
• Jupyter Notebook;
• Keras;
• scikit-learn;
• NumPy;
• SciPy;
• pandas;
• NLTK;
• OpenCV;
• CatBoost;
• XGBoost;
• LightGBM.

Tasks you can solve

• developing applications for chatbots, recommendation services, object recognition in photos and videos, speech synthesis and recognition, and forecasting services;
• training ML models;
• performing data experiments.

Minimum resource requirements

Number of vCPUs	2
RAM	4 GB
Boot volume	40 GB
GPU support	Required

Create a cloud server with DSVM

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select AI Marketplace.

2. Click Create server.

3. Fill in the blocks:

   • Name and placement;
   • Source;
   • GPU;
   • Configuration;
   • Disks;
   • Network;
   • optional: Access;
   • optional: Additional settings;
   • optional: Automation.

4. Check the server price.

5. Click Create server.

Name and placement

1. Enter the server name.

2. Select a location where the server will be created. The list of available GPUs depends on the location. You cannot change the location after the server is created.

Source

Select an image Data Science VM (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 64-bit).

GPU

1. Click Add GPU.

2. Select the GPU type. When choosing a GPU, consider the requirements for your ML models and tools. You can view the characteristics and description of GPUs in the Graphics Processors (GPU) guide.

3. Specify the number of GPUs.

After the server is created, you will be able to change the GPU type and quantity, or remove the GPU. Learn more in the Change cloud server configuration guide.

Configuration

1. Specify the number of vCPUs.

2. Specify the RAM size.

After the server is created, you will be able to change the configuration.

Disks

1. Select the boot disk type. When using a local disk as the boot disk, GPUs are not available.

2. Specify the disk size in GB or TB. The maximum size for all network volumes is 10,240 GB (10 TB), and for a local disk, it is 1,256 GB (1 TB).

3. If you selected the SSD Universal v2 or SSD Fast v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the disk is created, you can change the IOPS count — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

4. Optional: to add additional server disks:

   4.1. Click Add volume.

   4.2. Select the volume type.

   4.3. Specify the disk size in GB or TB. The maximum size for all network volumes is 10,240 GB (10 TB), and for a local disk, it is 1,256 GB (1 TB).

   4.4. If you selected the SSD Universal v2 or SSD Fast v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the disk is created, you can change the IOPS count — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

   After the server is created, you will be able to detach additional disks or attach new ones.

Network

You can add the server to a new or existing subnetwork. The subnetwork can be:

• private without internet access. You will not be able to connect to the server from the internet, including via SSH or RDP;
• private with one public IP address. A static public IP address is connected to the server's private address via a cloud router. The server will be accessible from the internet via this public IP address;
• public, where all addresses are accessible from the internet.

Private subnetwork without internet access

1. To add an existing private subnetwork:

   1.1. In the Subnetwork field, select an existing subnetwork.

   1.2. Optional: change the default private IP address of the server.

2. To add a new private subnetwork:

   2.1. In the Subnetwork field, select the Private subnetwork type.

   2.2. Optional: change the subnetwork CIDR.

   2.3. Optional: toggle the DHCP switch. Learn more about the DHCP protocol in the Selectel blog article DHCP protocol operating principles.

   2.4. Optional: change the default gateway IP address.

   2.5. Optional: change the network where the subnetwork will be created — you can select an existing network or create a new one. If creating a new network, enter the network name.

Private subnetwork with a public IP address

1. If you already have a private subnetwork and a cloud router with internet access:

   1.1. In the Subnetwork field, select the Private + 1 public IP subnetwork type.

   1.2. In the Private field, select an existing subnetwork.

   1.3. Optional: change the default private IP address of the server.

2. If you do not have a private subnetwork and a cloud router with internet access, in the Subnetwork field, select the Private + 1 public IP subnetwork type.

   A private network nat, a router router-nat, and one public address will be created automatically. The server will be connected to the subnetwork in the nat network.

Public subnetwork

1. To add an existing public subnetwork:

   1.1. In the Subnetwork field, select an existing subnetwork.

   1.2. Optional: change the default public IP address of the server.

2. To add a new public subnetwork:

   2.1. In the Subnetwork field, select the Public subnetwork type.

   2.2. In the Subnet size field, select the subnet size.

Optional: Access

1. In the Password for root field:

   1.1. Copy the password for the root user — the user with unrestricted privileges for all system actions.

   1.2. Save the password in a secure place and do not share it in plain text.

2. Place an SSH key for the project on the server for secure connection:

   2.1. If the SSH key is not added to the cloud platform, click , enter the key name, paste the public key in OpenSSH format, and click Add.

   2.2. If the SSH key is added to the cloud platform, in the SSH key field, select an existing key.

Optional: Additional settings

1. To create a preemptible server, check the Preemptible server checkbox.

2. If you plan to create multiple servers and want to improve infrastructure fault tolerance, add the server to a placement group:

   2.1. To create a new group, click , enter the group name, and select the placement policy on different hosts:

   • preferred — the system will try to place the servers on different hosts. If no suitable host is available when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;

   • required — servers in the group must be placed on different hosts. If no suitable host is available when creating the server, the server will not be created.

   2.2. Once the group is created, in the Placement group field, select the placement group.

3. To add additional information or filter servers in the list, add server tags. A tag with the image name is added automatically. To add a new tag, enter it in the Tags field.

Optional: Automation

1. To add a script that will be executed by the cloud-init agent on the first operating system startup, in the User data field:

   • open the Text tab and paste the script as text;
   • or open the File tab and upload the file with the script.

   You can view script examples and supported formats in the User data guide.

Launch JupyterLab

1. Open the page http://<ip_address> in your browser.

   Enter <ip_address> — the public IP address of the cloud server; you can view it in the control panel: from the top menu, click Products → AI Marketplace → server page → Ports tab → in the port card, click next to the public IP address.

2. Enter your password — the server UUID. You can copy it in the control panel: from the top menu, click Products → AI Marketplace → in the server menu, select Copy UUID.